CotIW: Unfortunate Meetings
by Base Delta Zero
Summary: In the 76th year of the New Era, an unlikely chance occurance in a distant, forbidden dimension brings terrible new foes. Armed with strange weapons and technology, and utterly without mercy, these invaders threaten the safety of all Mid-Childa.
1. Chapter 0 Foreword: Spoilers

Chronicle of the Imperial Wars – Book 1: Unfortunate Meetings

Foreword

SPOILERS

This is my first actual published fan fiction, so I hope you'll bear with me, read, and review, since it is somewhat… odd. The M rating is just in case for violence, there won't be much of anything in the way of 'shipping'

Specifically, this is a crossover between Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Warhammer 40,000, as you may have guessed from the summary, and not the friendly kind.

Dates are listed, but for reference, the story takes place about a year after the events of Strikers. I try to keep to canon, but I'm not perfect, and I can't understand Japanese (so the Sound Stages aren't really factored in at all). I've also made up a few things to fill in gaps, or because it was cool.

This chapter also includes a very short prologue, which I removed from the main text, since I thought it would improve flow of the story – specifically, because it made it abundantly clear what was going on too quickly.

**Merchant Freighter **_**Star of Heaven**_** (Commandeered by order of Departmento Munitorum)**

**On approach to Kaiden III, 35,000 kilometers distant**

**7-457-004M42**

The great doors of the _Star of Heaven's_ bridgeswung open, crashing into the wall with an echoing thump. Captain Orelos marched in, fire in his eyes, and snarled "Push us faster, Enginseer. The orks are upon the capital."

The shape seated in the control chair did not move, but a voice droned out "It cannot be done. Further acceleration would compromise our deorbit path."

"Well then." Colonel Vincent von Ferrograd commented. "It would be a shame to get there and have to retake the entire planet by ourselves."

"Indeed." General Eidas "I trust your men are ready. This should be a long fight."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Vincent replied. "The 37th Armoured is loading into dropships as we speak."

The other regimental commanders reported their units ready as well. Vincent looked out at the distant speck of a planet before him. Millions, if not billions of Orks infested it, like a green sea. To excise them would take years of brutal warfare, massive firepower, iron faith, and thousands of lives.

Just the kind of thing the Death Korps did best.

A grave voice spoke from behind the Colonel. "Everything is in order. The soldier's discipline is..." The handful of soldiers on the bridge instantly snapped to attention. Victor quickly spun around, saluted, and fell to attention. "Acceptable."

"Excellent, Commissar." General Eidas replied. He saluted too, although much slower than anyone else. As a Commissar, Einz was not technically part of the chain of command, but as a Commissar, he had disciplinary authority over the entire battlegroup. And for the Commissariat, 'discipline' translated to 'execution'. While the 37th Armoured had no shortage of either courage or discipline, it was best not to tempt fate. Even for a flag officer.

The droning voice of the ship's techpriest rang out. "Seven… no, eight vessels inbound port astern. On intercept course."

"More reinforcements?" Captain Orelos asked.

"Yes. For the orks. Contact in thirty seconds."

Colonel Vincent turned to the left windows. He couldn't see the enemy properly at this distance, but a jagged burst of energy rippling told him they were definitely there.

"I _hate_ space battles!" General Eidas spat. "Nothing for us groundpounders to kill!"

"MORE SPEED" Orelos ordered "Frag the deorbit path!"

_Star of Heaven's_ great engines rumbled below, as it attempted to accelerate away from thegathering storm. One of their two escort ships, _Pious Defender_, slowly slipped across the view window, its lance batteries spitting white fire into the void.

"Fifteen seconds. The Ork vessels are not decelerating."

"Emperor on Earth… where did they come from! All batteries! Open fire!"

_Star of Heaven _lurched under the impact of… something. A blast of plasma shone in the void near _Pious Defender_. Its weapons had hit their mark, destroying an Ork vessel. The exultation was short lived. Moments later, _Pious Defender_ split in twain, bisected by the impact of an Ork rok. Even its death throes, it continued to fire its remaining weapons defiantly at the enemy.

"We don't stand a chance against them!" Orelos shouted. "We have to abandon ship, at least some of us-"

To Vincent's complete lack of surprise, - even though it was probably a good idea - the heavy _thumpf _of a bolter shell split the air, and the top half of Orelos vanished in a cloud of gore.

"CONTINUE ON OUR COURSE!" Commissar Einz bellowed. "PREPARE FOR BOARDING ACTION! PREPARE FOR-"

"Ork vessel at twenty…" the techpriest tried to interrupt. It was too late. Vincent could already see it coming.

A massive, shadowy shape approached at rapid speed. A point defense lascannon scattered uselessly off the hulk's bow, and it grew from a small shape to enormity in what seemed less than a second. An instant later, the ship was blasted to starboard, lurching everyone off their feet and sending them flying. Vincent found himself slammed against a wall, struggling to remain conscious – against both the impact, and the growing rotation of the ship, which sent the crew sliding once more.

"Whoever's in charge, report!" Eidas, or someone who sounded like him, ordered.

"I-i-impact!" The techpriest stuttered. "The O-ork vessel has become l-l-odged in our own. W-w-warp reactor is unsta"

A loud, electrical hiss grew into a scream could not have emanated from any material throat, and Vincent's vision brightened with Eldritch colors…

**Wreckage of the Merchant Freighter **_**Star of Heaven**_

**West Central Mid-Childa, Approximately 19 kilometers northeast of Zolice**

**9-457-004M42 **

"Colonel? Colonel Ferrograd? Are you alright?"

Vincent struggled through a pounding headache and opened his eyes, to see the helix insignia of a Medicae kneeling over him.

"Yes, I'm fine." Grunting, he pushed himself to his feet. "What happened?"

"Don't know, sir, but we seem to have crash landed… somehow."

The entire ship was currently lying nearly on its side, with surviving personnel standing on the bulkheads. He looked to the shattered windows, and saw an azure sky beyond, rather than the decent grey color he would have hoped for.

"General Eidas… you're the senior officer, now, sir."

"Hmm." Vincent said. "What's the disposition of our forces?"

"I don't know for sure. It's confused down in the hold… By your leave, I must attend to other victims…"

"Very well." Vincent replied, waving him off. Nearby, another Medicae attended to Commissar Einz.

He pulled up his mask started towards the control platform. He couldn't see clearly out of the ship, but he thought he saw trees. A shout and scream echoed from inside the bridge. Vincent quickly turned about, to see Einz with his sword drawn, a Medicae nearby, clutching his own leg.

"What's going on?" Vincent asked

"He hit me with his chainsword!" The medicae said

Einz ignored them and pushed himself up using the same sword. "At least it wasn't on." Vincent said.

"It's still sharp…"

"Stop whining." Einz interjected dangerously. "What's the situation, Colonel?"

"I don't know myself, yet." Vincent said.

Einz glared at him.

"I'm going to find out."

Vincent turned to the available door, which was lying open about half a meter over the 'floor'. Simultaneously, a blindfolded man climbed through, shouting, "Sirs! Where's the General?"

"General Eidas is dead." Vincent said, sneering. "What is it, Astropath Griggs?"

"It's this planet. The psychic traces… they're beyond anything… they're like nothing I've ever encountered before!"

"What!" Einz shouted "How much beyond…"

"It's almost as though every person…"

"Look out sir!" A guardsman shouted. Vincent and Einz turned around to see a man and a woman in strange pale blue uniforms standing just outside the window. The man shouted out something, and lowered a rope.

"Who are you, witch, and what do you want?!" Einz shouted

"I think they're here to rescue us, Commissar." Vincent said.

"Rescue us, sir?"

The woman shouted to something behind her, and the other emphatically gestured for them to come closer.

"It seems they believe they can bargain assistance for mercy." Vincent continued, drawing his plasma pistol. "Kill them." He snapped off a shot, blasting a hole through the woman. "Kill them all."


	2. Chapter 1 Grim Incidence

TSAB JF-673 Helicopter

West Central Mid-Childa approximately 33 kilometers east of Zolice

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1921 Hours

"Condition Green."

Agent's Aide Teana Lanster grasped the helicopter's door railing in her left hand. They were only a few minutes out, but all indications already were that this would _not _be a routine mission - of course, if an entire city just vanishing from the transmission grid was ever a routine kind of thing, then she didn't want to know about it.

"There's smoke up ahead." The pilot shouted over the rotor blades. "I'm beginning to think you were right about this, Agent Harlaown!"

"Go to alert mode," Fate replied. "and land outside the city. Just in case."

"Outside the city?" Teana asked.

"Hopefully, there's just something wrong with their transmission center. But if the city can't respond, it could mean that something has –"

"Ma'am!" The pilot shouted – the only way to be heard, but there seemed a greater edge to his voice than necessary. "We're passing something… looks like a clearing or… encampment of some sort, and it's not on any of my maps. I'm reading lots of people down there! Armor-type vehicles, too, and not…"

The helicopter's hull just behind Teana erupted in a shower of twisted metal. Other small holes appeared in the hull with a crunch of metal. The engine crackled dangerously, and Teana held on for dear life as the craft jerked suddenly to the side.

"Get us out of here!" Fate shouted.

"I'm trying!" The pilot screamed back. "I can't keep her up! You two should bail, save yourselves!"

The aircraft veered sharply, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. Bright flashes of light burst from something on the ground some distance away, sending bolts tracing after them, which somehow exploded into small puffs of smoke as they came close. She aimed Cross Mirage at the source, only to quickly realize it was too far away.

"No!" Fate replied "Find a clearing, try to land in it!""

The attacker, or attackers, were out of range, so Teana just shot at the projectiles – it was a lot easier said than done, but she hit one out of the handful of the bolts streaking towards them – it veered off course and crashed, but the others continued exploding near them, and then, the barrage stopped, just as suddenly as it had begun.

"They've stopped firing!" Teana shouted.

"That's great, but we're still gonna crash!" The pilot snapped back, the helicopter jerking downwards, as if to emphasize the point.

"Don't worry" .Fate said. "I should be able to cushion or landing."

The helicopter wove drunkenly towards the tree line, still vomiting smoke. Teana carefully shuffled away from the hole in its hull, and reached out for a seat. Maybe sitting down would help…

With a deafening crack, the helicopter whirled in place, slamming her against the opposite bulkhead. She saw, for a brief moment, the tail section falling away from the rest of the helicopter.

"Stabilizers are gone!" The pilot screamed. "We're going down!"

The helicopter crashed into the foliage.

Helicopter Crash Site

West Central Mid-Childa approximately 29 kilometers east of Zolice

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1926 Hours

A few dizzy moments later, Teana found herself lying on the ground beneath Fate, who kneeled next to her, Bardiche extended over the large fallen tree she was crouching behind, and the pilot, whose name she still couldn't remember, crouching over her. She groaned and shook her head – apparently they'd had a rough landing.

"Uh… Agent Harlaown… I think she's awake." The pilot said. He was sitting on the ground, a standard issue Mid-Childa device from the weapons locker lying at his feet.

"I... yeah, I'm awake. What's going on?"

"Not a clue." The pilot replied. "You dropped your device."

He held out Cross Mirage for her, and she took it.

"Two-hand mode." Teana said, the second pistol appearing in response. She glanced down – her barrier jacket was still operational, and rolled over, looking over the log. The white frame of the helicopter still smoldered in a clearing a few dozen meters away. "How long was I out?"

"Five minutes or so." Fate replied. "Can you walk?"

Teana climbed to her feet. "I think so. What do we do now?"

"Vehicle Approaching_"_. Bardiche announced.

"We should go." Fate whispered. "Can you make us invisible?"

"I think so."

"Yes, it can be done. Condition Green." Cross Mirage replied.

Teana took a moment to shake off her headache, concentrated, and with a whisper of "Optic Hide", Fate's form faded into a translucent silhouette. A glance at the pilot confirmed it had worked for him too. Fate moved to help the pilot to his feet – apparently he'd been injured in the crash. Teana pointed one of Cross Mirage's pistols in the direction of the helicopter and slowly backed away with them.

A trio of steel-gray, roughly trapezoidal armor-type vehicles rolled into the clearing on caterpillar treads. Teana didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of armor-types, but they weren't like anything she had ever seen before. They vaguely resembled command crawlers, but were industrial looking and vaguely crude, with little metal rods holding it together rather than the sleek fusings of modern molding production – Rizad manufacture, perhaps? Each had a small, three-barreled weapon poking out of a turret slightly forward, and a trio of weapon barrels on each side. On the side of each was a gold-plated winged skull, and the center vehicle had a man in a strange, pointed mask half exposed from a hatch on the turret.

"_You think we can take them?_" She telepathically transmitted to Fate.

"_Probably. But we'd have to protect Sergeant Vertol, and I'd like to know more before we act."_

Vertol. That was the pilot's name. Teana backed away more readily, still keeping her guns trained on the vehicles – she was pretty confident her shots could penetrate, assuming it didn't have a barrier (which it probably did), but she still had to be careful. A hatch descended at the back of each vehicle, and a dozen or so soldiers filed out of each, a handful running into the helicopter, the rest forming up into groups.

"_They're all grouped now. I might be able to get them all in…"_

"_Not yet, Teana. How long can you maintain this spell?"_

"_As long as we need, if we're just walking…"_

"_Good. Let's observe them, see what happens._"

Each soldier was dressed in a steel-gray double-buttoned overcoat, and festooned with equipment she couldn't readily identify, as well as a metal helmet. They carried a strange rifle-type weapon with a short, flared barrel, its muzzle tilted slightly forward, no sign of a core, but then, it wasn't always obvious. Furthermore, each wore the same pointed mask as the man on top, which covered their entire face, with two glass lenses for eyes, and a tube snaking down to an object on their chests.

The soldiers who had entered the helicopter exited it, and filed in front of the central vehicle.

"Nessun segno di qualsiasi corpi, signore. È probabile è fuoriuscito." One of the soldiers reported in a strained, filtered tone that seemed more appropriate for a machine than a man. Or at least it was something like that, as Teana couldn't grasp a word of what they were saying. Her auto-translator must have been broken somehow.

"_Do you know…"_ Teana asked Fate.

"_I can't understand them either."_ Fate replied. _"And I don't recognize the language… it sounds a bit like…_"

"Sparga fuori! Cerchi la zona! Trovi gli psyker ed uccidali!" the man in the central turret shouted out to the assembled soldiers. In response, one of the soldiers snapped back with a "Squadre antincendio! Muova fuori!" and the soldiers scattered into teams of three.

"_Alright, let's go._" Fate transmitted. They backed away through the forest, as the soldiers spread out and started searching the area. The armored vehicles turned about, and began moving away.

The group continued on for some twenty-five minutes before Teana's invisibility spell finally gave out.

"Sorry, Ma'am." Teana said, catching her breath, and taking a moment to regain her composure. "I'll restore…"

"It's okay. I think we lost them." Fate interrupted.

"What now?" Sergeant Vertol asked as he sat down on the ground.

"Will we be getting help?" Teana asked "

"I couldn't contact the Bureau." Fate replied. "I think they're jamming our transmissions… I don't know how they could do that, but it might explain why we can't understand them as well."

"Can you transfer us out?" Vertol asked.

"I think so. We have to continue investigating, but I can get you to safety."

"Is that _safe?_" Vertol asked. "The last time I studied transfers was in magic school, but isn't it dangerous to transfer something without going yourself.

"With one person, it should be safe." Fate said, "Although they might be able to detect it."

"Right." Teana said. "I'll cover you."

"I will help you search." Cross Mirage commented.

"Thank you."

Teana looked around. Unfortunately, they weren't near any clearings, so there were plenty of things to get in the way and possibly knock her shooting magic off course, and the attackers uniforms were dark enough that they'd be hard to see in the dying light – although, fortunately, Cross Mirage's sensors would help in that regard, at least

"When you get back, tell them that we were shot down by unknown attackers, and that we're continuing to investigate, and not to send anyone else, we'll get out on our own. And try to focus on the helipad."

"Got it." Vertol said.

The area illuminated with the ghostly light of Fate's rune circle. Fortunately, it didn't make it too hard to see the rest of the twilit forest, but it would be easy to see. Teana positioned herself looking to the east, and hoped she could intercept any attack that might come… or failing that, that Fate's barrier jacket would be enough to stop it.

She shook her head and focused out Fate liturgically reciting coordinates. Only three would probably come at a time, and they couldn't possibly be scarier than combat cyborgs… unless the attack on the helicopter had been one of them… but, probably, it was their leader, or at least the most powerful of their number, or an ordnance device from their vehicles. In any event, it was most likely they'd attempt to form up and attack in force, which would almost certainly delay them long enough… wait, did she just contradict herself?

"_Don't worry about things like that." _Teana thought, sighing slightly _"Just focus on what you're doing this moment…"_

After what seemed far too long to be a minute, Teana heard the ethereal chiming of a transfer. She half turned, still keeping an eye out into the darkness.

"So… what now?" She asked.

"We fly to the city." Fate answered "We can outrun them."

They both noticed almost simultaneously – a beam of light bobbing in the distance.

"Flashlight!" Fate whispered, ducking to the side, and pointing her device menacingly towards the light. Teana likewise raised both halves of Cross Mirage and aimed them at the intruding light.

"This is Time-Space Administration Bureau enforcer Fate Harlaown. Come out where we-"

She was interrupted by an electric _**crack **_as a red line flashed between them for a brief moment. By reflex, Teana fired a shot at the flashlight. A filtered scream pierced the air. "Sparili! Ora!"

More of the red bolts shot through the air, one passing uncomfortably close to Teana's head. She fired again in the general direction of the attackers, and ran towards the nearest large tree. A few more of their attacks scattered off the golden aura of Fate's Defenser. Teana found her tree, leaned around searched for any sign of the attackers.

"_I'm going around." Fate messaged her "Keep them busy."_

"_Yes ma'am!"_

She saw a branch rustle in the distance, and fired three shots towards it. A torrent of red bolts streaked back in response, at least one crashing into the other side of the tree. She leaned around briefly, to see a figure advancing quickly towards her. Teana focused, aimed, and fired two shots.

Both bolts slammed into the man's chest, and he collapsed to one knee, his weapon discharging randomly as he fell. The remaining soldiers unleashed another volley, one shot of which blasted out a chunk of her tree.

"Fuoco… di Supression!" Someone grunted "E Trovi l'altro!"

Bolts flew everywhere, saturating the area around the tree – there was no way she could lean out for another shot. She needed another plan. She leaned her hand around the tree, closed her eyes and visualized the view from the barrel of Cross Mirage. The soldier was still crouching, his weapon recovered and firing at her. She mentally focused all her effort on him.

"Shoot Bullet: Bullet F." Cross Mirage announced for her. An orange orb of energy lanced out, struck him in the face, and knocked him out cold.

"Caporale!" One of the soldiers shouted. "Lo ucciderò psyker!" The staccato crack of their weapons redoubled, a virtual storm of red lines dancing around her. A few seconds later, she heard an even louder creaking, crackling sound, and the _tree_ she was hiding behind tilted and began to fall.

The firing stopped for a brief moment – Teana took that moment to check her cartridges before doing the stupid thing she had in mind – left was at 31%, right was at 26%. Good enough. She dove from behind the falling tree, and rolled to a crouch. One of the soldiers was running, rightwards, in an effort to escape the tree. She opened fire, discharging at least half a dozen shots in his direction. Four of them hit, and he went down face first.

The tree crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom. At approximately the same time, a pyramidal yellow energy dart streaked faintly across her vision, slammed into the remaining soldier and knocked him against the tree, where he slumped to the ground.

Teana stood up, and looked around for additional enemies. Finding none, she walked closer to the two fallen soldiers. Fate walked closer too, pausing to pick something up.

"What took you so long?!" Teana asked, half seriously.

"I didn't expect the fourth soldier." She replied. "I apologize."

"Approximately eight seconds elapsed between initial contact and resolution." Bardiche said, apparently by way of defense.

"Oh. That's not bad…" Teana apologized "I'm sorry, just… had a bit of trouble."

Fate held out the object she had found – it was one of the attacker's weapons.

"Did you notice anything peculiar about the attackers?" Fate asked. "Uh…" Teana replied, trying to remember. "…yeah! Now that you mention it, I didn't sense much magic from them…"

"That's what I thought… Their defenses aren't that strong, but…" She held out the weapon, looked it over briefly, and dropped it. "… whatever this is, their attacks seem pretty powerful. A direct hit would be dangerous."

"We should hurry." She concluded.

Teana turned around, and raised her arms – this wasn't her favorite means of travel. "Are you sure this is safe? I mean, for this distance?"

"Yes. This shouldn't take too long." Fate replied, grabbing her around the waist, wind, or something like it, whirled around them, and they floated off the ground as if weightless. "I can fly much faster out in the open. This won't take long at all."

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Command Tent

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 48 kilometers southeast of Zolice

9-457-004M42 

The sounds of men busily setting up tents, digging trenches, and erecting earthworks all around the camp resonated through the command tent. Six men clustered around the central table – Commissar Einz, Vincent Von Ferrograd himself, Colonel Notting of the 438th Infantry Regiment, Major Straushaum, brevetted up to command of the 94th Siege Regiment; Major Caulen, Vincent's executive officer, now in command of the 37th; and finally Commissar Bezeika of the 94th, the only surviving regimental Commissar in the battlegroup.

"We will begin shelling at dawn…" Vincent ordered. "…with batteries from the 438th and 37th, and batteries from the 94th. Half an hour after that, the 94th will advance on the target, supported by an armoured platoon from the 37th. Meanwhile, the 438th will-"

"Sir." A messenger interjected. "Report from the 2nd Scout Platoon."

Vincent took up the vox receiver and answered. "Von Ferrograd. Have you terminated the intruders yet?"

"_Uh… I'm afraid not, sir."_ The platoon lieutenant, Athno, replied. _"We detected and engaged them some time ago, but we lost contact with that fire team. Now they're heading into the city… fast."_

"Is that all?" Vincent asked, annoyed.

"_Uh, no sir. We found the missing fire team, sir. Unconscious."_

"Unconscious?" Vincent repeated.

"_Yes sir… some blunt force injuries, not serious… but it wasn't what knocked them out… warpcraft I guess considering, but alive. The rest of my company is moving to take the intruders down."_

"Good."

"_That will be all."_

"Unconscious?" Commissar Bezeika commented.

"Apparently so."

"Then either the enemy is stupid, incredibly weak, or both." Major Straushaum said. "This is going to be fun."

"Or." Commissar Einz said. "They may have tainted them somehow. Kill the wounded, and have the bodies inspected. Carefully."

City of Zolice

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 340 kilometers from the capital city

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1959 Hours

Fate swept in towards the city, the ground growing rapidly before Teana's eyes. They decelerated as they dove, and Fate set her down gently on the street. Well, relatively gently. Teana massaged her sore arms, cursed her inability to do much more than hover a few centimeters off the ground, and resolved to practice more.

Then she took a look around, and her mouth fell open.

The city was abandoned, silent except for the buzzing of the city's streetlights which were still brightly illuminating the area in spite of the growing darkness. The street, meanwhile, was littered with debris, detritus, craters and the occasional patch of dark liquid. A car had crashed into one of the lampposts nearby - its door was still hanging open, and there was no sign of emergency response.

They wandered over to check the car. The rear window had been broken through – a hole melted straight through it, and numerous other holes had been seared in back.

"What's this…" Teana asked, leaning in to look at the trunk. It was wrong – melted, not pierced or shattered, like an attack should have done "Magic damage shouldn't do that…"

Fate stared at it for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe some kind of heat based attack?"

"I guess the soldiers got here first." Teana replied.

"They did." Fate replied quietly. "Look at this."

Teana stood up and leaned around. One of the soldiers was lying slumped against the hood of the car, the front of his jacket broken open. Beyond that, another soldier was face down in the center of the road. Fate stood a block down, light shining from Bardiche. Teana walked to her side, and saw it.

A few of the soldiers were lying in the street… but they were by far the least numerous of the dead. Dozens of citizens were scattered around the asphalt, together with crashed vehicles, some still smoldering. A pair of Zolice police officers, and an Aerial Forces officer, had apparently attempted to defend them, but had likewise been cut down. Teana looked around for any sign of life. There was none. The buildings and houses to either side had their windows smashed or their doors battered down. Even animals that had been unlucky enough to get in the way had been killed. The soldiers had swept through and systematically slaughtered every living thing in the city…

"This is unforgiveable." Fate said simply.

Teana tightened her grip on Cross Mirage's pistols, struggling to find a response. "I…"

She was interrupted by sudden appearance of a static-filled videopathic display window beside them, showing their bespectacled, dark-haired mission assistant. _"Fa- Fate, can you hear me?"_

"Yes. Shario." Fate replied. "… are you getting this?"

There was silence for a few moments. Teana turned around, to stare intensely into the display. The woman that was Fate's other aide was barely visible in the static, and her voice warped by the transmission.

"_It-it's fuzzy. But it looks like a mess… are those people there?"_

"Yes. It's… it's a massacre. There's been an attack."Fate replied. "Did Sergeant Vertol get back safely?"

"_Yes. He's sa-. With the medics now." _Shario replied, her image flickering as she turned to the side. _"Our sensors… working very…, but there's a… group… coming up behind you. Three armor-types… walkers. I suggest… get out. Nothing… can do."_

"Not yet Shario. Any sign of survivors?"

"_No. Nothing... but I can't… much."_

There was an awkward silence. Then, Shario continued.

"_Hold on. There's about ten of their soldiers trying to break into a building…"_

"Good." Teana interjected, hoping, to her surprise and shame, to find some soldiers to take her anger out on. "Where is it?"

"_It's a library from the old era… there could be a shelter there! In the center of the city. I'm relaying the image to Bardiche now."_

"Thank you, Shario." Fate replied.

"_Hurry up; they're closing in on you."_

"Coordinates received." Bardiche said. The snow-clogged video vanished, replaced with a low-resolution map of Zolice, pointing out a building close to the center of town.

The agent and her aide stood in silence among the ruins, staring at the countless bodies, until finally, Teana broke the silence.

"I've never seen anything like this." She said softly – not in person, anyways.

"Neither have I." Fate replied. "We should go. I'll carry you again."

The silence was interrupted by a loud _thump, thump _from behind them.

"What was that!?" Teana replied, spinning around.

"Mechanical Walker, thirty meters distance." Cross Mirage quickly replied.

Fate suddenly grabbed her from behind and took off; at about the same moment as a four meter some tall walker rounded the corner. The pilot immediately saw the two of them, and the wedge-shaped cockpit spun about. Teana launched a pair of shots from Cross Mirage, one of which went wide, the other one which hit its metal body.

They accelerated away, a momentary brilliance hissing through the air a few meters distant. The walker quickly shrunk away as they flew, and they turned about to be facing forward.

The city below them was in ruins, buildings shattered and the streets choked with bodies, like the pictures from the Last Dimension War in history books. The map display hovered next to them, showing them closing in quickly on the library.

"I'll drop you off just before we reach them." Fate said over the muffled wind.

"I attack from the ground with my shooting magic…" Teana continued.

"…while I fly in and engage them up close." Fate finished. They began to slow down. "About half a minute now."

They were already flying low, but Fate descended even further, to the point that they were basically weaving over the rooftops. They shot past the broken spire of Saint Church chapel, into a large central plaza, where Fate further slowed.

"Ready?" She asked.

Teana searched quickly, and spotted a cluster of soldiers, having already removed the cover of a fallout shelter, and now attempting to cut through a blast door.

"Go!"

Fate dropped her about five meters from the ground. Even though Teana couldn't fly… yet – she could slow her descent for enough. She aimed at the group of soldiers, who, noticing, them, began to turn. She ignored that, and concentrated intensely on her purpose.

"CROSSFIRE!" She shouted.

Teana landed sharply on the ground, a dozen orange orbs of light materializing around her, positioning her body so that she could slide along the tile…

"SHOOT!"

She swung her arms downward across her body as she slid to a halt, and sent the energy spheres careening towards the soldiers. Six, perhaps seven, were struck, the bolts breaking through their armored jackets and knocking them to the ground.

While the others were still recovering themselves from the sudden attack, Fate struck like a bolt of lightning, three scythe-like energy blades radiating from Bardiche. A single sweep brought down three of them. The remaining three soldiers had rallied, and began aiming their weapons at her. Fate swung at the soldiers to her left, who had thought they were far enough away.

"HAKEN SLASH!"

The energy blade detached and flew out, going cleanly through the first soldier, and striking the other solidly enough to disable him. Fate held her left hand out behind her, at almost the exact time the last remaining soldier fired his weapon, only to have its beam deflect off Fate's guard.

Teana snapped off a pair of shots at the last remaining soldier. He fell against the wall and slumped to the ground. Hesitantly, she moved to meet up with Fate, somewhat taken aback by their own viciousness – she'd never killed anyone before, and still she didn't know if she'd actually killed any of the soldiers today… but she'd wanted too. Fate, meanwhile, had not only killed at least one of them – nearly cut him in half, in fact but, while Teana might have been surprised, she couldn't bring herself to be offended in the least.

The energy blades faded and Bardiche returned to its default form. Fate was now examining the blast door the soldiers had been trying to get through. It was clearly an old-era machine, layers of concrete, steel and carbon fiber lowered into place mechanically; as opposed to on barriers and storing its extra mass through compacting. The soldiers had already taken off the camouflaged cover, and had been in the process of cutting through when they'd shown up.

"How are _we_ supposed to get in?" Teana asked. It seemed solid enough that she'd have trouble with it, although Fate could probably break through…

Fate pointed at a small camera hidden in the alcove. Simultaneously, the door slowly began to lift open, rising about halfway up before stopping with a crunch. Fate ducked under the blast door without a word. Teana glanced around – finding no sign of anything, she backed under the door into the fallout shelter.

They were in a small, bleak corridor leading further into the shelter. A little over a dozen men and women were waiting in the corridor behind makeshift barricades erected out of plastic folding tables, with a Ground Forces officer at the door control.

"You two showed up just in time." The officer said. "Are we getting reinforcements?"

"We are the reinforcements." Teana replied.

"Agent Fate T. Harlaown" Fate interrupted. "And my aide Teana Lanster. We'll get you out of here."

"Lieutenant Chaffee, 56th Ground Battalion." The officer replied. "... what's left of 56th Battalion, anyways. Do you have a plan?"

"We'll transfer out." Fate said. "How many are here?"

"We were slaughtered." Lt. Chaffee said, indicating the people behind the barricades. Only three of them were wearing standard issue Ground Forces barrier jackets – or, by the looks of it, any barrier jacket at all. "You're looking at the whole of the 56th. Fifty, sixty civilians. A handful of police and armed citizens. No powerful mages… we were pretty much out of options."

"I hate to interrupt." Teana said "But those soldiers were right behind us. They'll be here soon."

"That's fine. The bastards still have to break through." Lt. Chaffee said, clearly doing his best to sound confident. "We'll all be out of here before then."

He pressed the door switch, and the blast door clanked downwards for about a centimeter and jammed where it had been cut.

"This isn't good." Teana said.

Zolice Public Library

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 540 kilometers from the capital city

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar : 2007 Hours

Teana heard the enemy before she saw them - the sound of their boots, their filtered speech, the growl of their machine engines, and the heavy thumping that had to be their walker booming under the gate, still wedged open. Fate had to stay back to transfer the survivors out – as much as sense as that made, it was still aggravating to have to fight alone.

Aggravating, and more than a little frightening. She doubted their makeshift barricades would last even a second, and the other defenders – they certainly seemed courageous enough… braver than her, even, going into battle without the confidence of her weapons or ability… but they didn't have her weapons or ability, or even anything comparable to standard ground forces equipment. Most didn't even have barrier jackets. Lt. Chaffee, meanwhile, was practically a white, barely capable of creating a magical light, but nevertheless insanely, planned to face the attacking soldiers with a utility knife.

The first barricade was some five meters back from the door, spread across the entire corridor, the second two meters behind that, across half the corridor, all of it manned by herself and half a dozen others, including two policemen who at least had Class C Devices. Chaffee had the rest of the armed citizens waiting behind the inner door at the end of the corridor – and himself right at the side of the door, ready to ambush the first soldier through.

Now all they needed was the enemy. Teana had been hearing them outside for half a minute now. They were waiting for something – orders from their commander, reinforcements, or the right moment. Oh well. Maybe they'd delay long enough for Fate to finish transferring the civilians. She had to be on the second or third group by now…

A shout came from outside the doorway, as a small metal cylinder bounced into corridor. Teana figured it couldn't be good, but spared only a glance at it before returning to the gap in the blast door.

The cylinder exploded with an echoing boom and blast of smoke. A wave of pressure blasted against Teana's barrier jacket, and the entire barricade shifted backwards, knocking over some of the defenders, and a man next to her groaned in pain and clutched his leg.

One of the masked soldiers dived down prone under the gate, his weapon discharging a shaft of red light towards them, impacting against the barricade and stopping. It worked once, at least. Teana fired a couple of shots at him – both hit, a bolt from another defender impacting nearby as well.

Two more soldiers crouched under the door, their weapons sending lines of energy down the corridor. The recovering defenders responded with cascade of their own bolts. Several hit the soldiers, marring and cracking their armor, but only one of them fell.

Great.

Another soldier started under the gate. Teana fired a shot at him, which impacted squarely between the lens of his mask, sending him flying backwards. Behind him were two more attackers. Teana glanced sideways just in time to see one of the lines hitting one of the Ground Forces soldiers and scattering off his Jacket. She looked back in time to see one of the invaders brought down by the other defender's fire. She aimed for the soldier on the left…

A bright flash of light covered Teana's vision and a blast of force slammed into her head, knocking her to the ground. Dizzied, she shook herself off. Her barrier jacket had taken the hit. he unarmored citizen next to her had no such protection – hit by a red line, he shouted in pain and fell to the ground, bleeding from a wound on the side of his chest.

Teana watched a beam of light rip through the makeshift barricade and fly a centimeter over her, making her glad she hadn't stood back up yet. She heard a woman scream from behind her, and looked down to see the table completely shattered and knocked away from her, leaving her completely exposed to the enemy. She thought she saw one aiming at her at that moment…

Teana pointed both halves of Cross Mirage towards the now six soldiers she could see. She mustered as much discipline as she could, five orbs of energy gathering before her.

"Crossfire Shoot!"

"Crossfire Shoot." Cross Mirage echoed. The magic bullets lanced out, three of them striking the soldier about to shoot her head on, who fell backwards, tripping up the soldier behind; and one clipping the soldier next to him.

She put one hand on the ground and fired with the other pistol, beginning to push herself back up. The Ground Forces soldier who had already been hit was struck again. This time, the attack penetrated his barrier jacket and wounded him in the shoulder.

Another defender went down. Their barricade had ceased to exist as a meaningful defense, and more soldiers were pressing in. One of the armed citizens turned and ran towards the rear door, only to be cut down.

"Fall back!" Someone – it sounded like it might be Chaffee, but Teana couldn't be sure – shouted. "Fall back!"

Teana fired a few shots as she finally got to her feet. Two of the soldiers fell, one probably from her shots. She noticed one of the soldiers marching in had a different, large weapon and backpack as she began moving away.

"Alright, fall back!" One of the Ground Forces officers said. At that point, the surviving defenders stood up and started to back away – at least the ones who hadn't started out already.

The soldiers backed away, allowing the one with a larger weapon through. Teana had just began to zero in on him…

"Tempo di bruciare, psykers!" The soldier shouted. A small flame appeared on the end of his weapon, blossoming into a firestorm that roiled towards her at high speed.

"Defenser."

Teana reacted all but instantly, expanding her will into a corona of magic power around her. The flames washed around her, leaving her untouched, although extremely hot. Much worse, though, was the agonized screaming she heard over the crackle of flame. She ached with the strain of deflecting the burning stream, but in the end, the soldier's weapon gave out before she did.

The invaders seemed surprised to see her still alive. She turned and ran for the opposite door, where the second line was already firing at the soldiers behind her. She pointed one of her hands backwards and focused on the soldier with the flame weapon…

"Shoot Bullet F!" she yelled as she ran, not turning back to look. She felt one of their weapons impact her barrier jacket as she continued firing blindly. The lines of light zipped past her as she sprinted through the doorway, turned on her heels, and fired at the soldiers charging after her, metal blades attached to the front of their weapons.

One more went down, but the rest kept moving. Fortunately, the second door closed moments in front of them, preventing them from breaking through. Teana heard the muffled crack of their weapons through the door, and a handful of dents appeared… but they didn't break through.

"That won't hold them for long." Lt. Chaffee said, pressed against the wall next to door, knife in hand.

This room was much larger and more open than the corridor, with a few columns for cover, where a few citizens and the wounded Ground Forces soldier from before had already positioned themselves. It was a good defensive position… better than trying to hold the entrance. She positioned herself near the door, across from

"What division were you in?" Teana asked.

"Uh… Backyard Quartermaster." Lt. Chaffee responded. Unsurprising. He'd probably forgotten any tactical training he might have had.

"In that case, I'll take command."

"Go ahead. Someone needs to."

"Right. You should probably head to the back…" Teana said

"No sir. With all due respect." The Lieutenant replied.

Teana nodded in understanding, then looked away, concentrating on sending a transmission to Fate.

"_Fate. How are you doing with the transfers?"_

"_One more group." _She replied. _"Then, I'll begin transferring the defenders."_

Teana didn't respond. Transferring almost certainly took a lot of effort, and she didn't want to distract Fate. The soldiers had stopped trying to shoot through the door, and she couldn't hear them.

"We're almost out of here." She said out loud. "Just a few more min-"

A deafening electrical crack and blindingly luminescent beam of ruby light and ripped through the room, accompanied by a wave of heat and static energy, leaving Teana's ears ringing and a bright line across her vision.

A bombardment-type version of their basic weapon - she should have expected this. The door had been all but demolished, a wide hole blasted in it. She didn't know if it could penetrate the armored walls of the shelter, but wasn't going to bet it couldn't.

One of the armed citizens was running for a fire suppressor, to extinguish another that had been set alight by the passing beam. One of the defenders had been unfortunate enough to be directly in the line of the beam weapon, and had been all but obliterated. Lt. Chaffee was still across from her, bleeding from the nose and looking like he'd been out in the sun for too long. At that moment, another explosive cylinder flew through the hole in the doorway, bouncing to a stop a meter away.

"Get clear!" Teana shouted, running from the doorway and diving to the ground herself. The cylinder exploded behind her, and she stood up as quickly as she could, to see a soldier climb through the hole in the door. Someone else was quicker than her, and repeatedly struck the intruder with bolts, sending him crumpling to the ground. Another entered, discharging his weapon back at the first defender. Teana didn't look to see if he hit, but just fired a trio of shots at the soldier, who promptly fell on top of the first.

Cross Mirage ejected its right cartridge, expended, as another two soldiers stepped into the room, one turning to the right and firing at Teana, the other charging forward through a hail of bolts.

Teana fired her left pistol at the attacking soldier, as she ran towards the nearest column. A pair of red lines crossed in front of her, entirely too close for comfort. She ducked behind the column, and leaned back around. The soldier she'd shot at had gone down, but more were moving in behind.

Lt. Chaffee was standing in the midst of the invaders, having somehow survived the second explosive, one of them bloody at his feet. He charged another soldier who had been aiming his rifle at him. Teana fired a couple of shots at a soldier firing at her position, and ducked behind the column as another shot at her.

She leaned out around the other side and fired at a soldier attacking another one of the defenders, knocking him down. She leaned further, glancing at the entrance, and loading another cartridge into her right pistol.

One of the soldiers impaled the lieutenant on the blade at the front of his weapon. Bellowing, Chaffee jammed his knife into the attacker's chest in turn. Both men collapsed at roughly the same time.

There wasn't any real reason. They'd met a minute ago – but, somehow, seeing him die… made her angry.

She turned around, leaning out from the column, Cross Mirage ready. There were now half a dozen soldiers near the entrance, and more streaming in. Another defender fired a series of shots at them. Teana quickly aimed and opened fire with both pistols, taking down two soldiers, then switching targets and bringing down another.

The soldiers opened up with a fusillade of fire at her column. She glanced to the side, and saw a woman in a Ground Forces uniform taking cover behind another column, who took this opportunity to lean out and fire a few shots at the soldiers.

Teana heard one of the soldiers bark an order in their language – she couldn't even begin to understand what they were saying. The fire kept up – it looked like they were trying to keep her from moving rather than hit her. She doubted that was the whole of what they planned.

"There are so many!" Someone shouted.

The lines around the column stopped briefly. They were making their move. Teana closed her eyes and concentrated…

"Optic Hide."

She ran out from behind the column, heading for the other woman. A second later, a trio of soldiers rounded the column she had been hiding behind. With her left hand, she aimed at them, and with her right, at the soldiers at the door, and opened fire, straining to keep the invisibility spell up. All three of the soldiers at the column went down – she hoped she hit with her other shots, but didn't really care.

She had almost reached the column when, whether by accident or design, two of their weapon bolts slammed into her. The first hit her leg and was absorbed, but her barrier jacket snapped audibly as the second bolt seared into her arm. She managed to keep her hands on the left half of Cross Mirage, and slipped behind the column.

She looked over herself – she was bleeding and burnt, but not too badly hurt. It was painful to move her left arm though, and she was having trouble controlling it anyways.

"Hi." The woman said, trying to lean around the other side, only to withdraw from a series of angry red lines.

"Hi…" Teana replied. "Cross Mirage, one hand mode."

A bolt crossed so close to Teana's face she felt the static on the tip of her nose. She glanced to side, saw one of the soldiers from behind the column had recovered. She aimed her right pistol squarely at his head and fired.

Yet another one of the cylinders flew towards them, landing on Teana's left – the other woman's side. Teana quickly turned, took aim, and fired, sending the cylinder skittering away.

"Per l'imperatore! CARICA" One of the soldiers shouted. Shortly thereafter, there was a loud shout from all of them – an eerie, muffled, mechanical sound. An armed citizen ran back to the adjacent pillar, deflecting a shot with a defense spell.

"They're charging!" He shouted

The Ground Forces woman fired a bolt from her standard-issue device. Teana fired a few shots from behind the pillar, and heard Fate's voice in her mind _"Done. I'm on my way now."_

Fate's curiously 'convenient' timing notwithstanding , Teana replied with _"Good! It's rough up here!_"

"_How many?"_

"_I don't know! Twelve, maybe?!"_

"_Thank you."_

Teana spent a moment trying to rebuild her damaged barrier jacket. "Stay close to me. You'll be fine."

She ran out between the two columns, firing her device at the rushing soldiers – it seemed almost like there were too many to be real. One fell from her shots, and the woman had indeed followed her out into the open, standing beside her.

They were already almost on top of them.

"Dagger mode!" She shouted

"Dagger Mode." Cross Mirage echoed. The grip on the pistol shifted backwards, and the device projected a long energy blade from the barrel, and in a ring around the handgrip.

Almost the moment the change had been completed, one of the soldiers thrust his blade-tipped rifle at her. Teana shifted to the side, dodging his attack fairly easily. She slashed at his head, but he jerked back, and it slashed through the tube leading to his mask. The soldier swung the back of his weapon at her – she ducked underneath, and jabbed the blade into the soldier's chest. It broke through the soldier's armor, and the soldier backed away, groaning. She weaved past another blade, and slashed a soldier about to club the Ground Forces woman, who jumped back and discharged a pair of bolts at the soldier – one missed; the other failed to penetrate his armor, but knocked him back for a bit.

Teana felt something strike the back of her leg, sweeping her to the ground. The soldier with the cut tube raised his rifle blade over her, and she brought Cross Mirage up in response.

"_Get down." _Fate's voice said

The soldier suddenly dropped his weapon and fell on top of Teana. A soldier behind him looked up, apparently as surprised as she was…

A huge yellow energy blade swept across the cluster of soldiers, smashing them with the flat side of the blade and sending them flying away screaming. "Transfer!" Fate shouted, a ring of runes materializing on the floor around them. "Clanagan Enforcer Command Center, bay seven!"

Everything outside the runes went white, leaving the five of them together – the soldier she had wounded had been taken along with them, and, undeterred, was now attempting to grab Teana's throat…

The white curtain faded – Teana was too busy preventing the soldier from trying to choke her to notice where exactly they had ended up. A pair of Enforcers grabbed her attacker from behind, and dragged him off her, as another kicked the discarded weapon away. The soldier promptly began screaming at them in his language, and Teana struggled to push herself off the ground.

Fate reached down and helped Teana up. "You've been hurt?" Fate asked.

"Just a little." Teana replied.

One of the Enforcers walked up and ripped off the soldier's mask – revealing, to Teana's surprise, a pale, sandy-haired boy a little older than herself. "You're under arrest." The Enforcer said, picking up the soldier's weapon with one hand and pointing his device at him with the other. "Take this man to a cell, and have a medic examine him. We'll need to interrogate him."

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Command Tent

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 48 kilometers southeast of Zolice

9-457-004M42 

Colonel Von Ferrograd glared at the hololithic display hovering in the air, and then back at the dataslate lying on the chart table projecting it.

"Nine kills. Seven of our men dead, twelve wounded." He read. "Plus one missing. And the majority of the targets escaped…"

"I questioned Lieutenant Athno on this already." Commissar Harrian, Regimental Commissar of the 37th as of roughly an hour ago, said. "I was satisfied with his explanation. He had no means of knowing the enemy was capable of teleporting out, and the enemy was entrenched in a fortified position. Furthermore, he noted that the vast majority of casualties were inflicted by these targets."

The Commissar signaled the chart table operator, who brought up an pict of two heretic psyker females in the ruins of their city. The one in front carried a pair of pistols, black and red clothes under a yellow-highlighted white… vest… thing, and had orange hair split in two tails falling from the side of her head. The one behind wore a black greatcoat that bore a very passing resemblance to their own uniform, curiously enough, plus a white cloak and some armored pieces, carrying an axe, her blond hair split much like the other… although taken to a much… greater… extent.

"That hair." Commissar Einz said in his usual gruff tone. "Is not physically possible."

Colonel Notting nodded in agreement. "And the eyes. Red eyes. That's never a good sign."

The group ignored the irony – in light of the dull red glow of Notting's own bionic eye, and Commissar Harrian cleared her throat and continued. "This pict was taken by a scout Sentinel of the 37th. According to Lt. Athno, this one –" she pointed out the image on the left, of the orange hair female. "- designated Target Beta-One, inflicted the majority of the casualties against his forces. We believe it and the other arrived in the helicopter that was shot down, but survived. Furthermore…"

Commissar Harrian signaled the operator again, and the pict advanced. The other psyker, with the strang(er) hair, grabbed Target Beta-One from behind, and lifted off the ground, simply flying away. Beta-One fired a shot from each of her pistols, and the sentinel fired a lascannon back in response, but they were moving too quickly, and it missed.

"They can fly." Major Caulen said. "Great."

"Does that worry you, Major?" Commissar Einz asked.

"No sir." Major Caulen replied quickly. "I said, great, they won't have cover, sir."

Foevir Forest Reserve, 3 Kilometers East of Harpin Creek

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 370 kilometers south of the capital city

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 2214 Hours

Rain pattered against the roof of the DN-381 Command Crawler as it trundled through the mud, heading deeper into the forest, bringing them closer to their destination with each passing moment.

Lieutenant Colonel Yagami Hayate double checked the Survey View – no sign of any reactions. She cycled through each of her Forward Squad Leader's videopathic recorders – no sign of anything she could see. For what had to be hundredth time, she checked her orders.

Immediate. Investigate Contact in Foevir Forest Preserve, coordinates 33.7819 E, 60.1438 S. Unidentified stellar/dimensional object was observed crashing in area. Maximum priority. Be alert for extreme hostile contact, report any engagement without delay. Utilize caution in engaging.

--Special Notice: For Your Eyes Only--

It was admirably simple – but her orders were rarely this simple. The TSAB was generally extremely thorough in giving orders to their investigative units, seldom spending less than a page's worth for even the most minor assignment, almost as though they were concerned that their investigators might waste time researching information that was already known or get involved in something they shouldn't. Hayate guessed that either the orders had been written by someone from a more militant division or just with a great sense of expedience… or whoever issued it was being deliberately vague.

The lack of a heading was strange too, although it had all the proper encryption codes and verifications. It was apparently official, though, at some high level, as Division Command had gruffly confirmed its legitimacy when she called.

Whatever the case, someone important wanted a mysterious and apparently extremely dangerous object investigated, quickly. There weren't many things that could provoke enough concern for her company to be activated and sent on a mission at 2009 hours, and none of the possibilities were particularly comforting.

Adding to her concern was the state of general confusion around the Ground Forces network. No one was sure of anything, but everyone seemed to be certain that **something **had happened. The proposed possibilities ranged from a storage explosion, to a freak storm, to a dimensional disturbance, to an alien invasion, to some kind of unknown Lost Logia, to, on the far extreme, an entire fleet of Cradle-class dimensional ships bearing down on Mid-Childa.

Hayate closed the orders and switched back to Survey View. Still nothing.

She turned to her right, where her friend, ward and company senior sergeant Reinforce Zwei hovered in front of a second monitor, looking at energy flow graphs or some similar display.

"Rein, could you watch the Survey Views for me?" Hayate asked "I'll try to find more about what's going on."

"Yep!" Reinforce replied cheerfully, her display switching to Survey View.

"Thank you." Hayate said, turning back to her display. She accessed long range videopathic communication, and entered the private direct access code of the person she thought most likely to know – Admiral Chrono Harlaown from the Dimensional Patrol Fleet. They'd been friends for over a decade, and he'd helped to get her the position she had now.

'CONNECTING – STANDBY' displayed for a few seconds, before Chrono appeared on screen.

"Hayate." He said "What do you need?"

"Sorry to call so late, Chrono. I've just been sent on a mission, but there are some strange things… I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain, but... uh… with the radio chatter, I was wondering…"

"_I see."_ Chrono replied. _"Are you going to the west?"_

"No, I'm in Foevir forest. Is something going on?"

"_Yes. You've probably heard the rumors…"_

"We've been watching open channels, but I don't know what to believe." Hayate said. "There isn't a fleet of Cradle-"

"_No." Chrono said. "But I'm not sure the truth is much of an improvement."_

"Why? What's going on?"

"_I'm not sure exactly. All details have been declared classified, level S clearance..."_

"There's a level S?"

"_Apparently so."_

"I only have B… I thought Generals and Admirals only went up to A, and the highest was A+, reserved for high command…"

"_I thought that too."_ Chrono replied, shrugging. _"It might have been a joke. In any event, I suppose I shouldn't tell you this, but I guess it is relevant to your mission."_

"Okay."

"_Over eight hours ago, XV Lamia detected a dimensional disturbance in near orbit around Mid-Childa. Two minutes later, an object was observed falling into Foevir forest."_ Chrono began. _"Five minutes later, Zolice reported a crashed dimensional vessel in the vicinity of their city, and sent a Special Response Squad to begin rescue operations."_

"You think there's another ship in Foevir forest?" Hayate asked.

"_Perhaps. Are you sending this to the Wolkenritter, and your other subordinates?"_

"No, not yet." Hayate looked to her side, and Reinforce quickly looked back at her display. Hayate grinned. "I think Rein is listening in, though."

"_I see. It doesn't matter, really."_ Chrono said. His expression suddenly turned serious – more serious than normal, even. _"That was the last transmission from Zolice. It's gone."_

"Gone?" Hayate said, putting her hand to her chin as she wondered. "The city is silent. Maybe something could be jamming their transmissions… has an investigation team been sent yet?"

"_Yes, Fate was sent to investigate, actually - Zolice hasn't fallen silent. It's gone. Everyone is dead."_

"What?!" Hayate shouted. "Is Fate…"

"_She's fine."_ Chrono said. _"She's already back, and helped rescue a few survivors too. But there's someone invading – they've destroyed Zolice, and moved on to the southeast. I don't know anything beyond that. If I learn anything new, I'll tell you. I doubt they'll be able to keep this secret for long…"_

"A whole city..." Hayate said, still bewildered. "How many? And… what happens next?"

"_Seventeen thousand, as of last census."_ Chrono replied grimly. _"It's been decided not to resort to orbital bombardment. Yet. The damage could be even worse, but it's still a possibility if conventional forces can't contain the invaders."_

"_You should be careful – if there's another ship in the forest, you'll be in for a fight…"_ Chrono continued _"I seem to be distracting Reinforce. Switching to voice only."_

Hayate glanced behind her, to see Reinforce hovering over her shoulder, looking at the screen. Reinforce grinned sheepishly, and headed back to her console.

The video window had disappeared, replaced with a small icon indicating a voice connection. Hayate switched to Survey View. Still no sign of anything, and she still didn't know what she'd be facing, except they were nasty. She opened her communications panel, preparing to send a message to her Squad commanders, at least.

"_One last thing." _Chrono's voice called out. _"Automatic translation protocols weren't working for some reason. If they're out there, you may not be able to communicate – I doubt they're interested, though, but it is procedure…"_

"I understand, Chrono." Hayate said, and looked back, to the front of the crawler, where Shamal and the pilot, Corporal Peake, sat. "Did you hear that?"

"Above my pay grade, sir." Cpl. Peake replied.

"I heard some, Mistress Hayate…" Shamal said. "I was concentra-"

Surprise, or sudden realization, crossed Shamal's face. "There's something out here."

Hayate turned around to look at her survey view. A few contacts were flickering in and out ahead of them, approaching the forest of dots that represented her section. They were still half a kilometer distant, approaching at a decent pace. She couldn't tell how many reactions there were, precisely, since they were too faint to get a good reading on, yet. That could mean they were weak… or somehow cloaking their presence.

"All squads. Be alert for hostile contact… we have at least five reaction signatures approaching." She turned to her side. "Rein, open a directed videopathic line."

"Yes!"

"The hostiles may be jamming our sensors, so visual cloaking is also a possibility." Hayate continued.

Thunder rolled in the background, as if on cue. The rain would complicate things – making visibility worse and slogging them down, but hopefully, it would also hinder the others.

"Videopathic transmission ready." Rein said.

The contacts were now 350 meters distant. The crawler moved forwards as each of the squad groups stopped and spread into a defensive formation.

"Open transmission."

"Yes sir!" Reinforce replied.

Another communication line opened on her manager. Videopathic communication might not be as precise as direct telepathic contact, but it carried no risk of memetic contamination, and allowed visual information to be transmitted.

"Attention unknown individuals. This is Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami of the Time-Space Administration Bureau 31st Ground Special Investigations Company. Please identify yourselves and state your intentions."

The dim contacts stopped, and seemed to gather around a point, presumably where Reinforce was beaming her transmission. There was no response for several seconds.

"You may respond to this transmission through normal speech, if you wish." Hayate added helpfully.

A few of the contacts broke off, heading hurriedly toward her company, but another group stayed around the transmission point.

A sound came back through the transmission – guttural, but clearly speech.

"Translators are processing." Reinforce said. "They should be working… now."

"Hello? I'm sorry, can you understand me? Can you repeat what you said?" Hayate said. She quickly switched outgoing to her own squad commanders. "Contacts are still advancing. At 200 meters now… we are attempting to communicate. Do not engage unless I give the order, please."

"_Dis ting workin?"_ A deep, harsh voice came over the communicator.

"Yes." Hayate replied. "Yes, I can hear you. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami, commander of the Time-Space Administration Bureau 31st Grou-"

"_Yah, yah, quit yer yappin, humie. Lookin fer a fight, are ya? Well-"_

"No!" Hayate said quickly. "No, I don't want to fight! Just tell us who you are and what you want, and if it's reasonable, we'll try to get it…"

"_You humies talk too much. We'z da orks, and we wants ta fight, cuz fightin's what we'z best at and we'z the best at fightin!"_

The second group began moving quickly towards their lines, as well as the other group which was now at 150 meters.

"_That doesn't sound promising."_ Chrono said, apparently listening in.

"I'll see if I can't convince them." Hayate replied. "Do we have videopathic window lock?"

"Yes, Mistress." Reinforce said

"We're in position forty meters short of the front line." Cpl. Peake announced.

Hayate switched to her communication link with the mysterious contacts. "Please, tell us what you're looking for. Why do we have to fight?"

"_Cuz' we'z da Orks, dats why!"_

The 'Orks' were now 100 meters away from the front line. Hayate couldn't begin to speculate why they were so eager to fight, but she intended to find out what was going on. She opened the line to her squad commanders.

"Hostiles at 100 meters – they seem pretty determined. It looks like there are… twenty some. Apprehend and secure them with non-lethal force if you can."

A chorus of affirmative responses came over the communication links.

"_They won't share your chivalry, Hayate."_ Chrono warned.

"I know." Hayate replied. "But we don't know for sure they'll act the same way. Besides, it's not that many. I don't intend to lose."

Hayate looked at the red icons closing in on the left flank of her section. There was nothing left now but the short wait that seemed to last for eternity.

Antone Boyle Enforcer Command Center, High Security Interview Room 3

Clanagan, capital city of Mid-Childa

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 2215 Hours

Fate looked through the one-way window at the pale soldier inside the interview room. He was wearing a hospital gown, his hands clasped behind the chair…

"He attacked enforcers seven different times between the hospital wing and here." A tall, blond-haired man in an Agent's uniform said. "Then at least four more times here. We eventually had to tie him to the chair."

"Agent Jeffry Rouen." He finished. "… I have no idea how the hospital dealt with him."

"Agent Fate Harlaown." Fate replied, looking at him. He was still struggling to escape his bindings, glaring coldly at the wall. "How long has he been here?"

"Half an hour." Agent Rouen said. "Your aide apparently wounded him fairly badly, but he'll live."

"I see. Has he said anything?"

"Nothing of importance. Just a few rude comments about some enforcer's parentage."

Rouen indicated a table, on which the soldier's equipment had been set.

"The equipment has been analyzed?" Fate asked.

"Yes." Agent Rouen replied, picking up the rifle-like weapon. "Our engineers took a while to figure this out." He indicated a small grey box. "These are essentially cartridges, although they hold a different type of energy, rather than magic. The energy is used to emit light, which is reflected and accumulated in the chamber, here - " he indicated the center of the weapon "- and projected outwards as a beam of coherent light. It's not extremely accurate or powerful, but it's simple and reliable, and its use doesn't depend on the user's magical power."

"I see." Fate said. She'd guessed their weapons were non-magical – they were too simple, too mechanical for that – even using a standard device they should have been more unique, and she hadn't sensed magic in any event.

"Which is good, in their case, I think. According to our doctors, this man's linker core is basically nonexistent. Magically speaking, he couldn't harm a fly."

_Magically speaking._ Fate thought bitterly. They were almost certainly from another world, relying on old era style energy weapons as they did. But she couldn't think of any unadministrated world with the technology to both get to Mid-Childa and present a credible threat.

"Right." Agent Rouen picked up the pointed blade, with a small ring at its back. "This is a basic steel blade, affixes to the front of the weapon." He pointed out the soldier's uniform. "Since they don't have barrier jackets, this uniform is lined with a kind of dense fiber, which protects the wearer by dissipating impacts… it can't restore itself, though. Likewise, this mask is designed to filter hazardous chemicals and provide the users with fresh air… apparently they expected lots of toxins to be used, if they're really all wearing these."

"Anything else we'll need to know?" Fate asked.

"Yes. This cylindrical object…" Agent Rouen continued, picking up a olive-green cylinder. "Contains an explosive chemical, wrapped in metal spheres. When the chemical detonates…"

The interview observation room door slid open. Fate turned around, to see Teana enter the room, her left arm wrapped in bandages.

"Ah. You're back from the doctor." Fate said.

"Yeah." Teana replied. "I'm fine… it's a bit like a bad sunburn, actually, but the doctors insist that I don't use it for a few days."

That didn't sound likely. Teana was even more stubborn than the average member of the armed forces, who weren't known for particular caution, and Fate couldn't blame her if she wanted to ignore the advice - she probably would in the same situation.

"So… this is everything he had with him?" Teana asked

"No." Agent Rouen said. "There was some organic material… I think it was rations, the techs seemed persistent in not using the word 'food', and a book, which they're trying to translate now."

"It looks like our guess was right. They don't use magic. These are old energy weapons…" Fate said, then turned to Agent Rouen. "Can I have my aide Shario look at these? She's studied Old-Era tech…"

"Maybe." Rouen replied. "I expect that our experts will want to take a closer look first... I guess we can finish the explanation afterwards?"

"Right." Fate turned to her assistant. Now, they had to confront a man who had quite possible taken part in the worst atrocity to occur on an administrated world since the old era, and, sitting there, he looked almost as angry as she felt. "Are you ready for the interview?"

"Ready." Teana said, nodding. "What's the plan?"

Foevir Forest Reserve, 4 Kilometers East of Harpin Creek

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 370 kilometers south of the capital city

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 2218 Hours

"_Contact!" _First Sergeant William Dewindt's voice came over transmission. _"Silverbolt Squad, Engage!"_ Hayate opened a holographic screen beside her, showing the view from Dewindt's device recorder. Brief flashes of light burst from the trees, illuminating huge, hunched figures. Silverbolt squad promptly returned the attack, Dewindt himself casting a trio of the silvery projectiles that gave the squad its name toward the enemy.

One of the blue dots representing a friendly unit on her survey view flashed and faded… A dozen enemies were now engaging Silverbolt squad group at a range of approximately ten meters, another half dozen or so enemies approaching the center of Section One's line, currently at nearly a hundred meters.

"I'll send our data to Chrono." Reinforce said, successfully predicting Hayate's next order. A handful of the hostile dots on the left flank had already disappeared. She saw dots moving forward, and glanced to Dewidnt's T-973's recorder to see two of Silverbolt's front attackers charging towards the enemy, their shields before them flashing as they deflected invisible attacks. The squad just to the south of Silverbolt group began to move toward them.

"_Flame 1 through 4, moving to support Silverbolt." _Signum said over the transmissions.

"Understood, Flame 1." Hayate replied. The second group was now only a short distance from the line, charging towards one of the squads they probably shouldn't. It seemed like this would be over quickly… "Iron squad, the enemy is directly in front of you, approximately twenty-five meters, engage!"

"_Roger!"_ Vita replied. Hayate watched as Iron Squad advanced forward, Vita's icon in particular reaching the enemy in a little under a second, one of the red dots fading away a moment later.

Hayate watched the monitor on her left as the enemy charged forward, large blades held aloft and bellowing war cries. The hulking forms of the 'Orks' were able to shrug off several magical bolts from Ground Forces standard issue devices… but concentrated fire quickly brought them down.

The first group of enemies was down to seven contacts, the second group, four contacts. The rest of Iron squad reached their targets briefly before Flame arrived to support the northern line.

The number of red icons dwindled rapidly. In the left monitor, one of the Orks charged straight towards Dewindt, getting close enough for Hayate to get a close look at its dark green skin, grey cloak, and crude armor before the sergeant knocked it back with a narrow beam of magic energy.

"_This is Silverbolt 1. Enemy has been defeated, but we've got wounded."_

"_We held back." _Signum said _"Most of them should live._"

"Good. Are any of our casualties critical?"

"_Silverbolt 4 is pretty bad. He'll need a hospital."_

"_This was almost too easy."_ Vita interjected. _"No one hurt here. 'Cept them, anyways."_

"Silverbolt squad group, take your casualties and return to Environmental Protection. Signum, Vita, secure the prisoners." Hayate ordered. Turning around, she added. "Shamal, would you see if you can assist the injured."

All responded in the affirmative, naturally. Hayate breathed a sigh of relief as she rechecked the Survey View.

Antone Boyle Enforcer Command Center, High Security Interview Room 3

Clanagan, capital city of Mid-Childa

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 2216 Hours

The outer doorway slid close with a hiss, and an energy barrier formed over it. Fate tapped the lock control, and a second later, the inner door slid open.

The soldier glared coldly at them, and redoubled his efforts to free himself.

"Don't try anything stupid, unless you want me to beat you down again." Teana said.

"You can torture me all you want." The soldier said, his true words altered by the automatic translator. "I'll never tell you anything."

Not the best way to start an interview, but they might still have a chance if they were persistent. Fate sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table, Teana standing behind her. Fate set her datapad down on the table – there wasn't much of anything on it yet, but it had been specially modified to accept transmissions so the interviewee wouldn't realize notes were being taken, and it made her look prepared.

"Can you tell us your name?" Fate asked

"No." He replied curtly.

"Why not?"

"Why do you care, anyways, psyker scum?"

"_Is the translator malfunctioning?" _Fate transmitted to Rouen

"_No. No precise translation." _Came the reply. _"Mage, if I had to guess."_

"You keep using that term. What does it mean?" Teana asked

"What does it mean?" The soldier replied, apparently surprised. "You know… freaks. Like you."

"A mage?" Teana asked.

The soldier responded with nothing but a glare.

"Can you tell us why you're here?" Fate asked

"You brought me here with your dark arts."

"She means why all of you are here on this planet." Teana said, curtly. Fate nodded.

"To kill you." The soldier replied. "All of you."

"Why?" Fate asked.

"Because you're psykers and heretics. The Emperor demands your death."

"You're not going to find that so easy." Teana said. "How many of you are there?"

"More than you can possibly count." The soldier snapped back.

"So… the Emperor." Fate said. "Who is he?"

The soldier looked shocked for a moment. "The immortal Emperor is the savior of mankind, heretic. I thought psykers were supposed to be smart."

"I'm sorry. I've never heard of him." Teana replied.

"Then you clearly haven't been paying attention. The Imperium of Man rules the entire galaxy! Except for what's controlled by the Orks… but that's only a matter of time."

They were making progress. It wasn't much, but at least they had a name and something of a motive to put to their attackers, and more importantly, it showed that Fate's plan could work. Asking a direct question might reveal the ploy.

"Just a galaxy?" Teana asked.

"What, can you claim more?"

"Actually, the Time-Space Administration Bureau spans ninety three different galaxies."

Fate replied. It was technically true, although were only a dozen or so administrated worlds in most of those galaxies.

"You're lying." The soldier said.

"What makes you think that?"

"Simple. If you were that strong, then you would not be so weak."

Fate's hand involuntarily tightened into a fist. "You think massacring innocent civilians makes you strong?"

The soldier looked surprised at that comment too. "Yes. And your pathetic sentimental concern is what makes you weak."

"But you're the one who's our prisoner." Teana said "And you're the one being kept alive by our medicine."

"More proof of your frailty. You don't have the will to protect your kind. That is why we will destroy you. As the Imperium has destroyed all else before it."

"That doesn't change the fact that the two of us, a few armed citizens and half-trained backyard staff defeated twenty… thirty of you."

"And we killed thousands. We are the Death Korp of Krieg. We are proud to die for our emperor. How many are you willing to sacrifice?"

"You're the ones who should be worried." Teana said. "We saw your ship crash. There's no one to support you."

"We don't need any support." The soldier replied. "We brought enough munitions for a decade long siege. More than enough to kill you."

"So your weapons require ammunition…" Fate said. She switched her datapad to display a picture of the large armor-type they'd designated the Type I "Can you tell me what this is called?"

"It doesn't make a difference. You'll be dead in a week. Maybe a month."

"Is that thing the best you can do? Looks pretty pathetic." Teana said. "Show him the video from the Cradle."

Fate flipped out the control keyboard from beneath the interview table, and queued the video to play, but before she activated it, a flash of realization crossed the soldier's face.

"This is a trick." He declared. "You're trying to manipulate me into revealing our strategy!"

"You have a strategy?" Teana persisted. "I couldn't tell."

"Shut up! I have no desire to speak to heretics. You might as well kill me now."

"I don't think so." Fate said, picking up her datapad, and activated the loudspeaker. "We're done here Agent Rouen."

A few moments later, Agent Rouen entered the room flanked by two Enforcers. "All right." He said "We'll do this the hard way. Telepath will be here tomorrow morning."

The two enforcers grabbed the soldier's arms and shoulders while Rouen untied him from the chair. He struggled, as expected, but the three of them dragged him out of the room as he unleashed a new torrent of cursing.

"Sorry." Teana said, scratching the back of her head with her right arm. "I guess I kinda screwed that up."

"That's alright, it wasn't your fault." Fate replied "At least we learned a name."

"I guess… I expect we'll be sent back to wherever they are now tomorrow?"

"Maybe." Fate replied, not sure if she wanted to go or not. "You should get some rest."

Teana looked like she was about to protest, then acquiesced with a polite "See you in the morning" and walked away.

Fate sighed, leaning against the wall. One way or another, it was going to be a tough week.

Foevir Forest Reserve, 4 Kilometers East of Harpin Creek

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 370 kilometers south of the capital city

April 27th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 2221 Hours

"_It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before." _Admiral Chrono said. _"As far as I know, the invaders in the west were human."_

The screen on Hayate's left now displayed the feed from one of the private's in Flame squad recorder – Levantine and the other Wolkenritter's weapons were ancient, and apparently recorders hadn't been included in devices when they were built, though the Wolkenritter themselves included a kind of recorder, its reports couldn't be interpreted by TSAB equipment – and the creature it showed looked only vaguely like a human.

It had dark green flesh and a mouth filled with yellow, jutting teeth. Each of the creatures was huge and bulky – they would have stood six to seven feet tall if they weren't lying on the ground, their heads had tiny, squint eyes in pronounced sockets above sunken cheeks and an upturned vaguely dog-like nose, square jaws and pointed ears. The body, meanwhile, looked top-heavy, with vast muscles, especially in the arms, and virtually no neck.

They were cloaked in simple clothes of grey, green, red, black, and the occasional blue, with the occasional metal piece placed seemingly at random. Several of their weapons had already been sealed and secured for transport – it seemed that each carried at least one crude knife and a separate ranged weapon of a pistol or rifle type, that didn't seem quite normal.

"Perhaps it's a different group?" Hayate said. "They could be running from the other…"

"_From what they said, they seemed pretty aggressive." _Chrono replied. _"The western group could be running from them. Or they could be working together."_

"I wish we could have got more information about what they wanted. Maybe we'll learn more in interviews."

"_Do you think that's the entire group?"_

"I doubt it. I still need to examine the whole region before I can call my mission complete."

"_Hayate, there's another kind of critter here." _Vita interjected _"A lot… smaller."_

Hayate opened a window on the right, from Private First Class Aranda's recorder. Vita was kneeling over a different kind of creature on the ground, which was telling in itself. In addition to its smaller size, it had a much thinner frame (although its arms and legs were still well-muscled), and its head was vastly different, resembling an inverted triangle, with long ears and a long, pointed nose. It was lying in a pool of green tinted fluid, and wearing a grey loincloth.

"_It looks like whatever hit him was too much for the little guy." _Vita said. _"It's dead."_

That made four dead among the attackers. Couldn't possibly be good for future diplomacy… but there was little that could have been done without putting their own lives at risk.

"Okay. Retrieve the body and any equipment you can. I'll send a transmission for assistance in prisoner and object recovery."

"_The nearest clearing is at the Harpin Environmental Protection Squad station. I'll see if I can arrange for transfer." _Chrono said. _"Incidentally, has the crew reported anything?"_

"No." Hayate replied – she'd been holding out hope it had been an unmanned monitoring post, but it seemed increasingly unlikely. "There was a crew at Harpin?"

"_Yes, why wou- the crew isn't there anymore, is it?"_

"No. There was no sign of life, but no sign of violence either. Do you think they were captured? Or killed?"

"_Probably." _He paused _"It was a ranger station. They must have encountered the Orks while patrolling for poachers. The others went out to search and…"_

"Why didn't they send a transmission for help, though?"

"_Maybe they did. You're there, after all."_

It was all too possible. Under normal circumstances, it could take days or weeks for a search unit to arrive. The crew might have feared the others wouldn't last that long, and set out to search themselves. Still, at least one of them should have –

"Hayate!" Reinforce shouted, interrupting her train of thought. "This does not look good…"

About twenty new contacts had appeared, at a distance of a little over a kilometer. With Shamal still with Silverbolt squad, that meant they were probably had to be more powerful, for the DN-381's notoriously imprecise sensors or one of the forward squads to have detected them. Hayate shifted the right side monitor aside and watched Reinforce input a few commands.

"Recalibrating crawler sensors for existing 'Ork' data!" Reinforce shouted "Now on active mode!"

Hayate still didn't know how Reinforce seemed to be able to extract more performance out of virtually any electronic equipment, but it was certainly useful. A dozen more contacts appeared, then another dozen more. And more, and more, and more came. With some of the contacts already at 700 meters, it seemed like there were easily a hundred of them, maybe two, and the number was only increasing."

"Any chance this is an error?" Hayate asked, hopefully.

"I suppose, but not likely." Reinforce replied. "Contact count… two-hundred eighty – now three hundred ten – twenty!"

At least they didn't have anti-magic fields. Probably. If they could rely on the new attackers being the same as before, Section One should win - but some of the contacts were stronger, and the woods would hurt their mobility. At the current rate of movement, the enemy would be too close for her forces to use their most powerful attacks safely. But they had the advantage, if they could avoid being overwhelmed.

"Section One, this Long Arch…" Hayate transmitted "…all squads, fall back to the bridge, there's a whole battalion incoming!"

Hayate wasn't sure what the official doctrine for engaging three-quarters of a battalion with a section, but it was probably pretty close to what she'd just ordered. If it was just her and the Wolkenritter, or Section Six, or an enemy she knew, she'd probably have stood and fought – but a battle in this situation would result in immense bloodshed on both sides and destroy any possibility of diplomacy.

The blue icons representing her forces began to move away from the enemy. The Harpin Environmental Protection Station, where they had left their helicopters and two squads, was five kilometers away, and it would take time to get everyone aboard – too much time.

Fortunately, the rain could work in their favor. Harpin Creek was a 'creek' in name only, easily ten meters across, three meters deep in places, and probably swollen by the current downpour, part of a storm front moving northwest. There was only one bridge worth mentioning within thirty kilometers – Motor Bridge C. They could hold them there

"_Mistress, are you sure?" _Signum said over their private channel. She guessed what she was thinking – running would expose them to attack when the enemy caught up, which they quickly would at this rate – but it was only a small group ahead of the others.

"A small group of them are approaching at high speed – we defeat that group, and we should be clear." Hayate replied over the same channel "We're outnumbered eight to one. We could fight-"

"Actually, umm…" Reinforce interrupted. "Look. Four hundred forty seven in the first group… and there are more coming."

It was true – the main group approaching them was a sea of red – and a few more dots were appearing, a couple kilometers behind. The advance units were only a few hundred meters away.

"Make that twelve to one." Hayate said. "With more enemies behind them."

She turned to the driver. The DN-381 wasn't a transport vehicle, but it would have to do. "Corporal Peake. Pick up the groups furthest back – as many as you can fit in here, and drive them to the other side of the bridge, then come back and do it again, understood?"

"Yes sir!" Peake replied. "Opening the door now."

Hayate took one last glance at the Survey View – all her forces, except Signum and Vita, were falling back –then shut down her command console, and unfastened the inert form of Schwertkreuz from her neck. She closed her eyes.

With a brief effort of concentration, she transferred her uniform to storage, and began assembling her armor with by summoning her tunic, then the vest over, then the golden plates around her hips, followed by her cloak and hat, and finally her boots and gloves. Her defenses complete, she expanded Schwertkreuz to its true form, summoned the shell of the Book of the Night Sky, and finally six black wings at materialized at her back.

It seemed like it had taken several seconds from her perspective, but the set up had truly taken only moments. Next to her, Reinforce had donned her own armor – essentially a white version of Hayate's tunic and cape.

The crawler door had been retracted into the roof. Hayate stepped out, with Reinforce flying along behind her, and ran towards the east.

"_Do you need me back, Mistress?"_ Shamal transmitted

"No. Tell uh… Nova 1, to take command of the retreat, and form up in defensive position on the other side of the bridge. If everyone else is across before we get back, tell him to destroy it by any means necessary."

"_Understood, Hayate. Good luck."_

Flying was risky in this forest – it wasn't particularly dense, but a moment's distraction could still result in a painful collision with a tree, so it was better just to walk even with the mud, since time wasn't critical yet. She also regretted having left her rain cover in the crawler, although she suspected that would be the least of her concerns soon.

She quickly set up a mobile display of the Survey View as she ran – the enemy was 250 meters away and still closing rapidly. Hayate wasn't a great fighter in close circumstances, but her defenses were pretty good and she would have a better chance than most of her soldiers.

It wasn't long before she'd met up with Signum, Vita and Agito. They were in the same spot the second group had been confronted, and Orks were still scattered around the ground. A loud howling noise shrieked through the air, followed shortly by a nearby tree blasting apart. In the distance, some kind of growl could be heard. Hayate couldn't see anything through the trees, darkness, and rain.

"Hayate." Signum said with a nod.

"Same plan as usual, I guess?" Vita added

"I don't have any better ideas." Hayate replied. "But don't go too far away. Rein, Agito make sure none of them get past."

"I bet I can defeat more than you, Rein." Agito commented.

Reinforce said nothing, but smiled in response. The five of them assumed a kind of formation – Signum and Vita in front, Hayate behind them, and Agito and Reinforce on the wings. There was still no sight of the Orks, although as the Survey View confirmed, they were closing in fast.

"_What's that noise?"_ Reinforce asked over transmission

The growling sound had grown louder – it was a mechanical sound, like an engine, but it seemed unlikely that there'd be a gasoline powered vehicle on Mid-Childa. The Orks must have brought it with them.

"_It sounds like a vehicle…" _Hayate replied. _"Like the ones on my home world…"_

With a screech, another blast boomed out nearby. Hayate concentrated, gathering vast amounts of magic power into a defensive screen. Another incoming attack wailed over the growing sound of engines.

"Gletscher-Wand!" Hayate shouted. A chill filled the air as a white field materialized in front of them. The incoming attack struck the barrier, and shattered upon it. A few bright bolts of light burst out from the rain, briefly illuminating the shapes beyond, only to likewise be deflected upon the Glacier Wall.

Hayate wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. The advance force of Orks was mostly riding on motorcycles of various types, although they mostly shared large tires, smoke-billowing pipes, and low seats. Most of them were armed with a pair of large weapons that constantly flashed with projectiles being fired, impacting and bouncing off her barrier – but she couldn't hold this up forever.

"_Try not to hurt them too badly." _Hayate transmitted. She didn't want to resort to violence too quickly, and still held out hope for a diplomatic resolution, but neither was she willing to risk her friends in the name of pacifism.

The Ork cycle riders accelerated as they came closer, drawing crude axes and swords or equally crude gun-like weapons. One of them lost control and skidded into a tree, his bike breaking apart and catching fire. The others paid no heed, and just came on, their bikes screaming.

"STOP!" Hayate shouted. "You'll crash into the barrier!"

"WAAAAAGGGHHH!!" The Orks bellowed back in response, even over the roar of their engines.

Hayate wasn't going to lower the barrier to prevent the imminent disaster for the first Orks – she watched as the first Ork rammed into the barrier, and his bike promptly broke apart, flinging him face-first into the barrier, then bouncing him off to land heavily on the ground, where another motorcycle promptly ran over him.

In the same instant, another Ork had slammed into the barrier – his cycle shattered and exploded in a plume of smoky flame. Another Ork zoomed closer, only to be blasted away by a fireball from Agito. The high-speed impacts of the motorcycles had weakened Hayate's barrier, and she was already straining to maintain it. Another one of the large attacks screamed overhead, missing the barrier entirely.

A patched of ground suddenly froze in front of one the Orks, no doubt Reinforce's doing, and he promptly slid out as the bike rode over. A moment later, another Ork on a motorcycle crashed into Hayate's barrier. A shock ran through her body, and, despite her best effort, the energy field shattered like glass, and the Ork himself flew through, and rolled to a halt just in front of Signum.

Now there was nothing between them and the fleet of Orks. A veritable swarm of bolts of flame and shards of ice lanced through the Orks, bringing several of them to a crashing halt.

Hayate took a brief moment to regain her composure, a process not aided by a projectile striking her armor, even if it was easily deflected. Reinforce had a pretty good idea with the ice slick – Hayate began casting a similar spell, her magic 'circle' illuminating the night. Four charging Orks were knocked off their bikes by Swallow Fliers – a fifth got past, swinging his huge axe at Vita – who swiftly flew over the swing and slammed him off his ride with Graf Eisen… meanwhile; Signum had dismantled half a dozen bikes that had tried charging past her.

A few had slipped past on the sides, despite their efforts. A series of fireballs ripped craters in the ground on the left, into which all but one of those on the left crashed. A strong wind blew past them, sweeping a number of Ork on the right flank off their bikes or causing them to crash.

Four large cubes of compacting snow manifested around Hayate. With a cry of "ATEM DES EIS!" she swung Schwertkreuz forward, and the cubes flew into the darkness and impacted the ground, coating everything within about five hundred meters in a thin layer of frost.

A few of the Orks crashed – there were a dozen, maybe, left on motorcycles, but she thought she could see a few more behind those. She glanced at the Survey View – she was right, there were quite a few still coming, in a long column, with another larger group behind. Suddenly, a few of the dots accelerated, coming in at extreme speed.

Hayate looked back, trying to see what was coming, but there was nothing apparent…

She heard a whooshing sound moments before something slammed into her, the impact mostly absorbed by her armor, but still strong enough to send her sprawling to the ground. She looked around, and saw a group of Orks fall out of the sky, trailing flame, one exploding in midair. Hayate started to get up, but before she could, an Ork appeared over her, large knife in hand.

"DA ORKS!" The creature screamed, raising the blade. "WAAAA-"

Hayate did the only thing she could think of – she punched it squarely in the nose as it hunched down to attack. It jerked back momentarily – more surprised that she had strength enough to resist than hurt – but it gave her just enough time to roll out the way without getting hit. It had quickly recovered its composure, and fired its pistol at her, two shots missing and another bouncing off her knight's armor near her knee.

She pushed herself up as quickly as she could, her armor deflecting another hit to the shoulder. The Ork charged as got up, firing wildly in her general direction as it ran and hefting its blade.

There wasn't enough time for her to cast a spell. Hayate quickly raised Schwertkreuz as the Ork swung his weapon. Fortunately, the blade was simple, nonmagical metal, and the shaft of her weapon held out.

The Ork pushed its blade downwards, trying to keep her occupied as it raised its pistol to her face…

Vita arrived out of nowhere, Graf Eisen shattering the Ork's sword into about a dozen pieces. Roaring, the Ork whirled around to bring his pistol to bear – at 'normal adult' height, or about a meter too high. Vita swung her weapon upwards, catching the hulking creature on the chin, knocking him out cold.

Vita nodded to Hayate, and flew off behind her, towards a particularly large Ork on a bike approaching from behind at high speed. It seemed as if something was exploding every other second. There weren't many bikers left, but now, in addition to the Orks on foot who seemed to have giant missiles strapped to their backs, there were about half a dozen buggies, some with tracks, some with wheels, most painted some variety of red, all coming in fast.

One of the buggies seemed to crystallize as it flew towards the five of them, shattering beneath its astonished driver. Another careened out of control on the slippery ground and flipped over. Meanwhile, Signum and Vita were each fighting a cluster of Orks. Hayate took to the air, hovering about a meter off the ground. Immediately, some of the buggies began firing at her. She focused on three of the buggies, closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the storm of attacks whizzing past her and smashing against her armor.

"Bloody Dagger…" Hayate whispered. A thin blade of crimson force materialized just underneath each of the buggies, about where she thought their front axle should be. One's front tires blasted away from each other at high speed, flipping the contraption over, another simply ground to a halt, while the third seemed unaffected, continuing onwards.

Hayate saw a larger vehicle approaching, simply demolishing trees with a giant spiked roller at its front as it advanced. It was a ramshackle as the others, apparently assembled out of rusty steel plates and spare parts that had been daubed crimson and had weapons bolted on.

"_Look out!" _Hayate practically shouted over transmission. It was the only way to be understood over the Orks and their machines. _"Huge… truck… incoming."_

"_Got it!" _Agito replied. Four bolts of fire lanced out a second later, exploding on the front roller and side of the vehicle, shattering a few spikes on the wheel, and stripping a plate off its starboard hull to reveal… another plate.

A large weapon on the top of the vehicle pointed upwards and fired. A shell screamed past Hayate, missing by about half a meter.

"_I think we're going to need more than that." _Hayate transmitted. _"I can't attack, it's..."_

"PANZER HI-" Hayate began, but it was too late – the vehicle had already fired. The shell slammed into her body, sending her flying back, and exploded… but her Knight Armor held out – mostly. Her ears were ringing, she'd fallen to the ground, her whole body was sore, and a few fragments had penetrated enough to cause some scratches and tear the fabric of the jacket itself – her vest was in tatters and her hat was nowhere to be seen…

"_HAYATE!" _Everyone transmitted to her more or less simultaneously.

"_I'm okay." _She replied_ "A little banged up, but I'm okay._"

Hayate sat up, dizzied by the blow. She doubted she could survive another hit, and checked the integrity report on her barrier jacket – around 50%. Alright, maybe she could, but it would probably hurt. She quickly closed the display.

"_We have to destroy that vehicle." _Signum transmitted. _"Reinforce, disable the right weapons. Agito, the –"_

The vehicle fired again, this time at Signum. Her armor absorbed the blow just as Hayate's had, but the Orks surrounding her weren't as fortunate, and the blast sent Orks – and, sickeningly, pieces of Orks – spiraling into the air. Vita surged forward towards the vehicle, trailing red light behind her and a triangular shield held before her, attacks bouncing off it, and shouting loudly enough to be heard even over the din of the Orks and their machines. Ice crystals formed at the front of the vehicle's right weapon as Vita raised her hammer – the weapon kept firing, even after it jammed from the obstruction, and quickly broke apart under the strain. In a flash, Graf Eisen switched modes, growing to rival a small car in size. Despite the immense mass of the weapon, Vita swung the weapon down on the Orkish armor-type with surprising speed, pounding it into the ground and sending a shower of twisted armor plates and wheels flying in all directions.

One of Agito's fireballs blasted into the left side of the Ork vehicle as Vita raised her weapon again. The large weapon on the top of the vehicle jerkily rotated towards her, and the crew opened fire with their personal weapons, attacks pinging off Vita's Knight Armor. It wasn't enough - again Graf Eisen's gigantform slammed into the vehicle, this time striking the main turret, crumpling its roof. The vehicle billowed smoke even more than before, and some of the Orks began to jump out as the remaining wheels spun uselessly in place.

Signum had recovered from the cannon shot, and charged towards the vehicle, casually knocked aside an Ork warrior foolish enough to get in the way, and leapt towards the vehicle, Levantine blazing with fire as she slashed down at the top of the vehicle, just below the front, and then jumped onwards, disappearing to the back of the vehicle.

Apparently she'd damaged something vital, because the vehicle quickly caught fire. The Orks might be reckless, but even they began to bail out of what was quickly becoming more of an inferno than anything else, and started fleeing back to the still approaching foot mounted troops.

Hayate's group didn't pursue them. The battle area was coated in a layer of snow, littered with smoldering vehicles despite the pounding rain, unconscious or dead Orks and far more sickly green blood than she would have liked.

Reinforce flew to Hayate's side. "Looks like things are clear for now."

Hayate spared a glance at the Survey View still hovering by her side. The rest of the attackers were about a kilometer distant, and closing slowly. All indications were that they'd make it out without further incident.

"I'm sorry mistress." Signum said, flicking reddish-green blood off her sword and sheathing it as she walked up. "We tried to hurt them as little as possible, but there was only so much we could do."

That much was clear – if she hadn't been holding back, there would be Ork fragments littering the ground instead of wounded Orks – most of the deaths had no probably been inflicted by the Orks themselves. She might not like it, but at least her subordinates were safe.

"I know." Hayate said, nodding. "We should meet up with the rest of the section... head back to Whithaum… I think we may have another incident here."


	3. Chapter 2: Earnest Struggle

Grand Central Highway, Tier 2 Westbound

Central Mid Childa, approximately 40 kilometers east of Feine

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0736 Hours

Fate absentmindedly drove down the highway, confident despite her high speed – nearly four hundred kilometers per hour. The leftmost two lanes of the upper westbound tier were empty – closed off at the West Gate to all but official TSAB traffic. The right side, meanwhile, had been converted to go eastward… Fate couldn't really see individual cars at this speed, but it seemed like a solid wall of vehicle, travelling east. The ten lanes below that normally travelled would be filled as well, as well as the linear rails below that.

"That's a lot of cars." Teana commented – as Fate expected, she'd decided to come along, despite her (admittedly minor) injury. "They're evacuating the city, I suppose?"

"I expect so." Fate replied. No one was really sure what was going on, but Krieg Type II walkers had been spotted near the city of Feine – southeast of Zolice at around 0431 hours, and TSAB command expected them to attack at any moment. It would be no surprise if they'd ordered the city cleared.

"Huh. Do you know who else is there?"

"I don't have much information…" Fate replied "the defense is being commanded by a Colonel named Grant Sochor."

"I've never heard of him."

"He's the commander of the 18th Ground Battalion, and general commander of all the battalions in Feine." Shario said over the videopathic display on Fate's right.

"How many battalions is that?" Teana asked.

"Three. The 18th and 200th Ground, and the 41st Aerial."

"A ground forces officer commanding an aerial battalion. Interesting." Fate said.

"Aerial's not going to like that."

Officially, the Ground and Air forces were equal in authority. In practice, they were not equal in prestige. Aerial units were staffed by more powerful mages as a rule, and often considered themselves superior to the ground units, adamantly refusing to cooperate, let alone submit to command by a Ground Forces officer – at least according to Hayate.

"The leader of the 41st is a captain, and considering the situation…"

"I hope they don't do anything stupid." Teana said. "Fighting these guys with three battalions will be hard enough."

Fate nodded. She wasn't really considering the possibility of defeat – she'd been through bad situations before, and knew she had no reason not to be confident both in the TSAB's eventual victory, and, hopefully, their personal safety. Honestly, she was more concerned by what she might have to do – she didn't really enjoy fighting, let alone killing… but… the Krieg had shown no mercy or remorse, massacring the defenders and citizens alike. In this way they were unlike almost any enemy she had ever fought...

"Hey, vehicles up ahead." Teana said.

Fate looked up, to see a cluster of brown shapes on the left side of the road up ahead. She slowed down to two hundred as she approached them – they were moving more slowly still, at around 150 kilometers per hour. The rear vehicle was clearly identifiable as a DN-381 – the rest were various types of trucks, PL-505 troop transports, IL-534 cargo haulers, and an IL-292 flatbed carrying a JF-673 helicopter, all colored with the brown of the Ground Forces.

"A ground forces unit." Fate said as she passed by – they were nice enough to leave the rightmost lane open. "Looks like a whole battalion. They must have called for reinforcements."

"Hmm. That's good. Four battalions…"

Their car quickly passed the column of trucks, and the city of Feine stood before them – smoke rose from the city, and one of the city's gleaming silver skyscrapers lay had all but shattered, its upper floors reduced to a framework of twisted metal and scorched carbon.

"We're too late?!" Teana exclaimed.

"Not according to my information. Apparently the city has been attacked, but wasn't captured. Should I connect you to Colonel Sochor?"

The Krieg were here already. Fate wouldn't try to hurt them to badly – but she wouldn't lose any sleep over doing whatever she had to keep Mid-Childa – to keep her friends – safe.

She hoped.

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Forward Mustering Yard

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 16 kilometers west of Feine

9-458-004M42

Colonel Vincent walked up and down the lines of soldiers from the 94th Siege Regiment as Earthshakers thundered in the background, living up to their name. Each of the guardsmen stood at attention in parade formation. In the distance, their destination awaited its doom.

There was no doubt in the colonel's mind that many of them would soon be dead – payment of their ancient debt. The preliminary bombardment had begun some thirty minutes ago, but that alone would not be enough to purge the psykers.

Interspersed among the infantry, Vincent could see the occasional Leman Russ and Chimera from his regiment, as well as, towering over them all, the 94th's Gorgons. This would be the first time their heavy armour met the enemy, and Vincent was confident it would give them the edge against an enemy that seemed to lack heavy weapons.

The Chimeras were unusual for a Krieg regiment – typically, the lighter but more rugged Centaur was used instead, the Chimera being too simultaneously too large and too lightly armored to be much use in the harsh battlegrounds they usually fought in. By a twist of fate, however, the Departmento Munitorum had issued the 37th Chimeras instead of the Centaurs they requested.

The Chimera chassis was more heavily armed, more heavily armored, and more versatile than the specialized centaur, all characteristics that made it better suited to this campaign. The Emperor's craft was subtle, indeed.

The Colonel flipped the switch to trigger the large speakers that had been set up.

" Soldiers of the Imperium!" His voice boomed even over the guns behind them. "Today we stand alone against a heathen world! There shall be no reinforcements."

"Our only chance, then, is to crush the enemy! Victory is insufficient! We must annihilate the enemy!"

"Death!" Came the response.

"The enemy intends to fight us here! They are already dead!" Vincent continued "They have brought only a pittance to fight. We are legion! They have no heavy weapons. Our guns will break them apart! They have no walls to protect them. Our tanks will grind them into dust! But most of all, they fear death, and we… we have the will of the Emperor!"

"Death!"

"Death Korp! You have your orders! Crush their men, slaughter their women, burn their children! Now advance, with hate in your hearts, and you shall have his blessing!"

"DEATH!"

18th Ground Battalion Headquarters, City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0741 Hours

A sharp howling noise pierced the air as Fate drove into the 18th Battalion's parking lot, causing the numerous Ground Forces personnel standing around to dive for cover. Moments later, something struck the ground moments later, sending a massive plume of rock and dirt into the air about ten meters in front of them.

Dozens of dents instantly pockmarked the car's canopy and hood – some of them going straight through. Fate swerved right to avoid the crater that had been torn into the lot, and managed to avoid crashing entirely, but left them dangling over the edge.

"Fate, Teana, are you alright?" Shari said over the videopathic connection.

Fate looked over at Teana – she'd opened the door and jumped into the pit already. The right door was stuck.

"We're alright!" Fate replied quickly.

Another shrieking sound filled the air. Regretting not having set up her barrier jacket beforehand, Fate unsnapped her seatbelt, slid across the left seat, and dropped into the crater after her aide just as the second explosion occurred.

The light of Teana's barrier jacket setting up faded. Yet another loud shriek echoed through the lot – the destructive power of this new weapon was immense, and there was no more time to waste.

"Get Set." Bardiche intoned.

The first step in the process was storing her current clothing. That done, the next step, Bardiche assembling its active form, began. Fate grasped her weapon as it was completed, and the vest of her barrier jacket formed around her chest in an instant, followed shortly by the top of her coat. The armored gauntlet on her left hand materialized simultaneously with the bottom half of the coat, then, in short succession, her stockings, boots, hair ribbons and cloak.

It took nearly half a minute from her perspective, but in the normal timeframe, it ended just as the third explosion boomed out behind her.

Yet another attack screamed in the distance.

"Follow me!" Fate shouted, vaulting out of the crater and sprinting towards the battalion headquarters. Teana leapt out of the pit behind her and landed nearby, and the two of them reached the shattered frame of the building's glass door.

Fate glanced over at a woman crouching behind the door, wearing the brown of a Ground Forces enlisted personnel.

"I'm Agent Fate T. Harlown, Colonel Sochor called me here."

"Uh…" The woman replied timidly. "He's on the third floor. Uh… head up the stairs, second door on the right."

"Thank you." Fate replied, trying to think of something helpful to say to her. "Uh… Good luck."

Teana had already started towards the large spiral staircase some distance down the hallway – Fate followed after her, quickly catching up. Teana was apparently in a great hurry, as she didn't bother climbing up the stairs, instead just leaping to the second floor, then across to the third.

Fate sighed softly at her student's showing off, and flew after her…

"STOP!" Someone shouted. "Drop the…"

Fate stopped on the floor. A pair of Ground Forces soldiers guarding the doorway had been so thoroughly shocked by their rapid approach that they'd reflexively pointed their devices at Teana, thinking they were under attack.

"This is important!" Teana said. "Get out of our way!"

"Eheh…" Fate said, putting her hands to the side. "Calm down, everyone. We're from the Enforcers, here to advise the Colonel."

"Sorry!" The leftmost soldier said. "Didn't mean to bother you. In here."

"_Don't be so rash, Teana."_ Fate transmitted.

"_Sorry. Won't happen again."_ Teana replied, a little too sharply.

Both of them entered without further incident. There were already some eight people in the command room – three operators on consoles close to the front display, four sitting at the officer's table, and someone's familiar standing behind the table.

A man with shoulder-length grey hair, wearing a long grey coat that was probably his barrier jacket, stood up. "Agent Harlown." He said. "I take it you didn't bring your girlfriend?"

"Colonel Grant Sochor." Fate guessed, ignoring his comment. She hadn't talked to Nanoha in three days, although she'd wanted too – videopathic communications from the Boyle center were malfunctioning for some reason,– and in any event, she wasn't her girlfriend. Not… like that.

"Hmph. I'd hate to waste the famed Ace of Aces' precious time. Well, shall we get down to business?"

"_And you think I have attitude problems?"_ Teana transmitted

"Ahem." One of the other officers, this one wearing a plain formal suit and tie, said, looking up. "There's an army of unknown enemies out there, trying to kill everyone in this city. The last thing we should be worrying about fighting is each other."

"Sounds good to me." Teana interjected. "Teana Lanster – Fate's Aide."

"Officer Nolan. I'm a backyard manager with the Third Permanent." The man replied.

"I'll link in my other aide." Fate said, ignoring the fact she had no idea what the Third Permanent was, and trying to get the meeting back on course. She entered in the command on a nearby console, and Shario appeared in a display to the rear of the room.

"What was that?" She said, the moment she confirmed that both Fate and Teana were both present, and mostly intact.

"That's what I was hoping you'd tell me." Colonel Sochor replied gruffly.

"I'm sorry, we never encountered anything precisely like that." Fate replied – she was too annoyed with the Colonel to feel embarrassed.

"Actually, it looked a bit like the weapon that shot down the helicopter." Teana said. "A bit bigger, though."

"That's been going on for thirty minutes now." A man in the white-trimmed blues of the Aerial Forces said. "They don't seem to be aiming at anything in particular, just firing at random."

"Hmm… if you could send me a video of the attack, I might be able to help." Shario said.

"What makes you think that?" Colonel Sochor said, but he sent the video anyways.

"Oh!" Fate said, suddenly realizing something she'd forgotten. "You should tell the unit coming to put on their jackets."

"The 377th" A woman in the brown uniform of the Ground Forces said, her silver epaulets identifying her as an officer, probably the commander of the 200th. "We already have."

"Okay, I think I know what the attack is." Shario said. "The Krieg seem to rely on old style energy and mass weapons. This is their equivalent of a long-range bombardment attack, except it uses a mass projectile traveling on a ballistic arc, instead of homing or direct control."

"That sounds about right. We detected objects inbound through their jamming, but couldn't identify it." The man from the Third Permanent replied. "How do we stop it?"

"They'll have some kind of launcher – it could be several kilometers away. You'll have to destroy that."

"I'll tell my commander." The man said. "What would the launcher look like?"

"Err… it could look like almost anything. It'll probably have a long hollow barrel, though."

"Besides the bombardment, what else has happened?" Fate asked.

"They just attacked the GCH at 0537, then pulled back." Colonel Sochor said, bringing up an image on the main display. "They were using these."

The picture was of a walking vehicle, a small beam emanating from underneath its cockpit – much like the one that had attacked them in Zolice.

"We've designated those Type II walkers." Fate said. "The one we encountered used a larger version of their basic energy weapon."

"These were using different weapons." the Colonel replied. "We also managed to destroy some of them."

"We didn't fight them for very long when they attacked us" Teana said. "they resisted my shots, but I didn't hit it that hard."

"Hmm. What else can you tell us?" The woman from the 200th Battalion said.

"Teana did most of the actual fighting." Fate said, deferring to her aide.

Before Teana could say anything, another woman entered the room, wearing a silver jacket and skirt.

"Major Beck." Colonel Sochor said. "Your assistance will be appreciated."

"The 377th is already moving into position." Major Beck replied, taking a seat at the commander's table.

"Continue." Colonel Sochor said to Teana.

"Right." Teana said. "Well, their basic soldiers wear have fairly tough armor, and their basic attacks are pretty dangerous, but they can't easily penetrate cover. And they don't maneuver well and don't have any active defenses…"

"Colonel!" A man in a Ground Forces barrier jacket appeared on the main display. "This is Lieutenant Kimmel! We have problems incoming! Lots of infantry, some armor types."

"Let the games begin." The Aerial captain said.

"Well, Agent Harlown." Colonel Sochor said. "Do you have anything else that your aides can't tell us?"

Fate got the impression that she hadn't been called here solely on an advisory basis – it was hardly surprising though, even in an organization as big as the Time Space Administration Bureau, she had acquired a bit more fame than she would have liked.

"No sir." She replied.

"Good. Now let's see if you're everything they've said. Would you kindly go to advise the 41st Aerial?"

Special Rescue and Response Mobile Precinct D-13, near K3 Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0746 Hours

"Alright, boys and girls!" Chief Peel shouted, leaning into the back of the emergency transport. "The reactor assembly at K3 reported a fire in its East Wing forty minutes ago, and disturbance outside Since then, no transmissions, except a continuous distress signal."

A monitor appeared in the back of the EY-417, showing a three dimensional map of the reactor facility. It was a wide, blocky building at the surface, but continuing down underground in a long shaft that no doubt held the reactor core. A small section was currently blinking red, indicating that a fire had been reported in that area.

"Reactor is staffed by between 40 to 50 people, depending on the time of day. We don't know if anyone's left inside. So, Ladder 3 will move to extinguish the fire and neutralize any hazards, while Ladders 1 and 2 search for survivors. Ladder 1 in the West Wing, Ladder 2 in the East Wing…"

"Anything I need to know before we go in?" Ladder 2's newest member whispered.

It took Rescue Officer First Class Subaru Nakajima a moment to realize someone was speaking directly to her.

"Err… keep your eyes open, stay in contact with everyone else, and be confident!" She replied. It was odd feeling, having someone ask her opinion on an important manner. She supposed it made sense, though; she was technically the most senior Rescue Officer in the newly formed precinct – well, besides Peel.

"Thank you, Subaru." Lesli Scott said. "I'll keep that in-"

A dull thud boomed from the outside of the vehicle. Almost simultaneously, the driver shouted in shock as the EY-417 screeched to a halt. Subaru looked up in time to see another EY-417 crossing in front of them.

"What's happening?" Lesli said

"We're being attacked." Chief Peel said in apparent disbelief. "We're being attacked! Everyone, out of the truck!"

The four members of Ladder Two hastily exited the vehicle. Ladder Three's EY-417 was laying on its side in front of them. Subaru looked to the distance, and saw the reactor complex about a quarter kilometer away.

"Kinsey!" Peel shouted. "Status!"

"Barrier took most of the impact, but our pilot's been hurt." The commander of Ladder 3, Rescue Commander Totherow replied. "What's going on?"

"Something's attacking us." Peel replied. "Spread out!"

"What? An attack?" Ladder One's leader echoed in disbelief. "Who'd attack…"

"WATCH OUT!" One of the rescue officers shouted as a line of black smoke lashed out towards them, smashing into the ground and sending a plume of earth into the air.

It had come from the distant building – Subaru saw a flash as a second attack came towards them, striking Ladder Three's ruined vehicle and sending flame out of the back.

"They're in the building!" someone shouted. Subaru wished she'd had time to learn everyone's names, but it was too late for that now. She zoomed in on the reactor complex where the attack had come from, searching the walls for a likely source.

It didn't take long. A large… person… stood near a large window, holding a strange weapon. He had the physique of a bodybuilder, a weird, square face and large teeth, wore a brown shirt, and, more strikingly, was a deep green color. Next to him were two others of similar appearance, but they weren't attacking. He discharged his weapon again.

"There!" Subaru shouted. "Second floor, third window from the right, three of them!"

"You can see that far?!" Lesli asked, only to be interrupted by the explosion of the third attack.

Fortunately, Subaru had been prepared for action, and was already wearing her barrier jacket and devices. If they were going to save anyone inside the building, they'd need to get past these… whatever they were. She set off towards the building as she quickly as she could reasonably manage, keeping focused on the window.

"What exactly are you doing, Nakajima?" Chief Peel transmitted.

"Uh… apprehending the attackers?" Subaru replied, not entirely sure.

The other two creatures had noticed her approach, drew weapons of their own – similar in appearance to Teana's device, but much cruder in appearance - and began attacking. They were much too far away, and all of their shots went far wide. As she closed to 50 meters, Subaru gave her device a telepathic command…

"Wing Road" Mach Caliber said. In an instant, a path of blue light raced upwards into the window, forming a ramp for her to ride up. One of the creatures inside immediately clambered up through the window onto the wing road, screaming and hefting a rather large metal axe. Subaru shifted to the side as he swung, dodging his blow and speeding past. One of the others discharged his weapon at her as she closed in.

A few of his attacks struck her barrier jacket as she drew back her arm. The creature went for its knife, too late. Shouting, Subaru slammed her Revolver Knuckle into his head – not hard enough to kill him, probably, but enough to send the creature flying across the room, into the opposite wall. Simultaneously, she dismissed her Wing Road, and heard a surprised shout from behind.

"WAAAAGGHH!" the other creature shouted, dropping its large weapon, retrieving a large blade from its back and swinging all in one swift motion. Subaru ducked away, narrowly avoiding the weapon, and promptly counterattacked with a blow from her left arm, sending the creature spinning to the ground.

"I'm Subaru Nakajima, officer of the Time Space Administration Bureau Special Rescue and Response Mobile Precinct D-13 – I'm here to help the people in this station, not to fight you, but… for attacking us, and preventing us from conducting our duties… you're under arrest.

The creature had been looking at her confusedly as she spoke, and now grunted and raised an arm toward her, middle finger extended for some reason, before it passed out.

"Tell me you're not dead." Subaru's immediate commander, Nathan Hayes, transmitted.

"Not a chance." She replied.

"DA ORKS! WAAAGGH!"

Four more of the creatures had apparently noticed the sound of fighting, and were now rushing down a hallway, waving various rough melee weapons and discharging their ranged attack weapon.

"Protection!" Subaru shouted, focusing her energy into a defensive halo. The creature's attacks bounced off the bluish light, but that did little to deter them, and they continued charging.

"You seem to have –" Hayes began.

" Wait a moment!" Subaru transmitted, just as one of them swung his melee weapon at her. Concentrating, she hardened the barrier and sped up as best she could. Trying to shove straight through would have just resulted in her falling, but fortunately, she wasn't coming head on, and there was enough of an angle to the barrier that the axe – and the creature holding it – bounced off like anything else.

The creature on her right side was likewise deflected, but it certainly wouldn't disorient them for long. She ended the barrier, turned about on her skates, and raised her right arm to attack. The creatures were about four meters away – perfect.

"ONE HIT KO!" Subaru shouted, swinging her fist forward and concentrating power around it "REVOLVER… SHOOT!!"

Air compressed around her arm, and lashed out in a wall of wind, sending the creatures flying away. They all crumpled to the ground – most of them remaining still..

One of the creatures managed sit up, raised his ranged weapon, and began firing. Subaru surged forward, ignoring an attack partially penetrating her barrier jacket and scraping past her knee, and kicked him with the bottom of her skates, sending him back to the ground.

"Sorry!" She transmitted. "Go ahead, commander."

"It's okay now. Did you really just do what I think you just did?"

"Err… I think so?"

"Striker indeed. We're getting life readings, human and otherwise. Door's barricaded, and engineer says we need a D-Cartridge on the other side, so…"

"I'm on my way." Subaru replied, taking one last glance at the downed creature.

City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0747 Hours

Alarms blared from loudspeakers all over the city of Feine below, occasionally interrupted by the roar of an attack. Craters, wrecked vehicles, ruined buildings and the occasional body pockmarked the ground below.

Fate had been sent to 'advise' the Aerial Forces, under the reasoning that she had the most experience in actually combating the Krieg of anyone who could keep up, limited though it was. That knowledge probably wouldn't do much good, but at least her magical expertise could be put to use.

A section from the 41st Aerial Battalion accompanied her as she flew low through the streets – Krieg had been attacking anything that flew at a significant altitude. As she expected, her duties had quickly become anything but advisory, although she didn't really mind at all, and she was now heading to assist 200th on the north flank – most of the 41st had already been deployed in that region, where the ground forces were weak.

Fate could see the flashes of both sides' attacks up ahead – a group of Krieg soldiers, including one of the boxy Type I Armor-Type vehicles, was assaulting the ground forces.

"Contact at four hundred. Engage!" Lieutenant Creighton said over section general.

"I'll engage the armor-type." Fate transmitted, slowing to a halt and gathering magic around her as Lt. Creighton's section sped onwards.

"Plasma Smasher." Bardiche said, as Fate's magic circle formed and energy gathered into a sphere before her. The Krieg began firing at the approaching section, filling the sky with the faint red light of their lasers. Shouting, Fate swung the edge of Bardiche into the sphere, which immediately transformed into a solid beam of brilliant yellow energy that lashed out towards the vehicle, shoving the entire vehicle backwards. Meanwhile, the aerial section discharged a flurry of bolts from their weapons as they flew over the Krieg infantry, who continued attacking right back, but the Krieg soldiers, outnumbered, were overwhelmed by the flurry of bolts and quickly fell. Her own target's front armor had been all but shattered, and the remainder left smoldering and no response from the crew. Fate quickly flew up and landed behind the mobile barricades that the 200th Ground had set up, where one of them, presumably an officer, was standing wearing a deep blue custom barrier jacket.

"Are you in command here?" Fate asked, just as someone called for a medic over the 41st's channel.

"Yes sir." The officer replied. "What's left of 'here', anyways. Section 3, 200th Ground Battalion. We've managed to hold out thus far – thanks to you. They were trying to go around us and we couldn't intercept them in time."

Lt. Creighton landed just behind. "One man has been killed, another wounded, but she can fight. These guys aren't so tough after all."

Fate had to admire his stoicism. If someone under her had been killed, she'd probably be sad, ashamed, and more than a little furious. That was one of the reasons she became an Enforcer – fewer lives to risk.

The woman in command of the ground section looked at him coldly for a moment. "That was just a few of them. Another wave will be coming." She paused. "I suggest you find cover."

"Clearly, you've never seen an Aerial Battalion in action. Agent Harlaown, I suggest we take to the skies and move forward."

"That's a bad idea. They own everything west of here, and there are a lot of them. They'll swarm you with their attacks." She pointed to a three-story department store about a hundred meters away. "If you want to help, set up in that building, we'll move up behind you and take the streets."

"I wouldn't worry about us, ma'am." Creighton said, using the wrong honorific for a military officer. "Our superior speed and firepower will win the day. Agent, we need room to maneuver. The more we aggressively we seize the initiative, the better."

"Too late for that. Scout Forwards say another wave is coming."

"Let's wipe the bastards out." Creighton said. "Take care of any that slip past."

"Section Four, move out, attack formation A." Creighton said over the Section's general channel, and quickly took off for the west.

"What. An. Idiot." The ground forces lieutenant replied, slowly.

Fate shrugged in sympathy – she could see her point, a defense like this might be easier from cover – even if they had bombardment attacks, it would at least conceal them, but aerial forces training focused heavily on rapid maneuver and… well, aerial combat, so it was probably for the best. In any event, there wasn't time to give the matter much more thought, she and sped off after Creighton, as each squad formed into a forward V formation and grouped into clusters of three to four squads."You saw Zolice up close… I expect you're ready for some payback." Creighton said as Fate flew up next to him.

"I just don't want to see that again." Fate replied. "Be careful."

"Zolice only had one Ground Battalion for defense. We're ready for them – and there they are."

Fate looked ahead - three more large groups of soldiers were approaching, each one at least section strength, one of them containing another armor-type vehicle. It was fairly easy to spot them; the Krieg bombardment had torn the suburban woods of Fiene apart. Looking to the sides, Fate could see more groups of soldiers approaching to the north and south.

"One hundred sixty three contacts detected. Lowest Range: three hundred twenty meters." Creighton's device said.

"Three to one. That's just not quite fair." The Lieutenant said, looking over the battlefield. "They're pretty spread out. We'll engage one unit at a time – start on the north, and move down, all squads, on me."

The section zoomed off towards the third unit, in the north, which also happened to be the one with the armored vehicle. The leader of the enemy section had clearly seen their approach, as he wheeled the unit about to form a loose line, the vehicle in the center, and greeted them with a flurry of energy bolts.

"Spread out!" Fate shouted, hoping someone would listen and shifting to the side as a laser bolt dissipated off her barrier jacket. The laser bolts, being lasers, didn't give even a moment of warning before they struck, so 'dodging' a specific attack was impossible - they could only try to make themselves harder targets.

The aerial unit spread out – a bit – and returned the attack, flooding the sky with the light of lasers and magic bolts. Fate dove down to about ten meters, below the concentration of fire, although a few bolts still traced after her. The Krieg section a little over a hundred meters away stood in the midst of a rain of bolts, defiantly discharging their weapons despite the losses they were already taking.

At this distance, Fate couldn't distinguish individuals, but she didn't really need to. She gathered magic around her into lances of energy, forcing herself to ignore the lasers zipping past "Bardiche… target lock."

"Plasma Lancer, Full Autofire."

A series of targeting icons sprung up in front of Fate's eyes as the four bolts on either side whirred as an aerial officer fell to ground a few dozen meters away.

"Fire!" Fate shouted, swinging her device forward, and the bolts zoomed off towards the enemy. She narrowed her eyes in concentration, as more arrows of energy materialized at her sides and were flung towards the Krieg in turn. Meanwhile, the Aerial Section was circling above them, firing from all sides.

"Knockout three targets." Bardiche reported. "Four Targets. Five. Six"

"_Keep up the attack!"_ Creighton said over Section General as a group of Aerial Officer charged into the midst of the Krieg, only to head back up, short one member, a few moments later. _"And someone knock out that armor-type!"_

The bright light of a bombardment-type attack lanced out, striking the side of the vehicle and sending a plume of dirt into the air. The turret on top of the vehicle quickly turned and fired a rapid stream of lasers at the originator, swatting him from the sky. Fate shouted, gestured towards the vehicle, and all the lances zeroed on that target, glittering into sparks and smoke on its hull.

Again the turret turned, this towards her. She sped off to the right, but the turret aimer was fast – lasers whizzed past with an electric crack or impacted her barrier jacket. She couldn't stop to focus on counterattacking, but gathered what little bits of energy she could and blindly sent them back towards the enemy.

"Barrier jacket integrity: Fifty percent"

Fate's knew her barrier jacket wouldn't last much longer, there were just too many lasers. She dove to the relative cover of the ground, taking shelter behind a broken tree lying across a crater. Lasers crackled overhead – then stopped. Fate glanced over the burning log, to see a small detachment of Krieg soldiers advancing towards her, and the Armor-Type firing into the air again.

"Blitz Rush." Bardiche said, as Fate's body flushed with magical energy. With that acceleration, she jumped out of the crafter and dashed to a small bombed out house about twenty meters away in a flash.

The laser barrage returned, saturating the area around the crater in faint streaks of red light. Fate looked around, and found one of the house's windows shattered. She climbed through, protected from the broken glass by her barrier jacket. Fortunately, it looked like the house had been evacuated before it was struck – apparently a direct hit, as a huge hole had been blasted in the roof and one of the walls. Fate ran up to the large gap in the far wall, and looked around the side – there were only a little under two dozen Krieg soldiers left standing, and even from nearly a hundred and fifty meters away, she could see the Armor-Type was damaged, one of its tracks missing and billowing smoke from the opposite side.

"Bardiche, barrier jacket status." Fate asked.

"Fifty-Eight Percent."

"We'll make it count. Zanber Form!"

"Yes sir. Zanber Form, set up."

Fate's device shifted in her hand, the shaft shortening, the core assembly folding open and forming a two and a half meter long blade of crystallized energy. She jumped through the break in the wall, and flew towards the remnants of the Krieg section as quickly as she could, sword held behind her.

It was the kind of thing no one could miss. A handful of the remaining soldiers fired at her, and, once again, the turret on the Type II turned to her as well and discharged a flurry of bolts, only to be abruptly cut short by a green beam striking its rear panel, breaking through, and sending smoke billowing from the vehicle.

"Got 'em!" Someone shouted over the communications channel as a soldier clambered out of the ruined armor-type, only to be struck by a pair of smaller energy bolts. "Not so tough now, huh."

Three of the soldiers started to run as Fate closed in. One of the others, standing behind the ruined vehicle, with a smaller laser weapon, immediately turned around and started firing at the runners – the first shot missed, the second struck one of them and sent him to the ground, a hole smoldering in his back. His third shot failed to connect as well, and then he turned back to Fate, brandishing a sword of his own.

With a shout, Fate swung her weapon – the swordsman ducked under it, but another soldier by his side wasn't as fortunate, and Bardiche's blade passed straight through him, leaving no physical wound, but nevertheless overwhelming him and leaving the man in a crumpled heap.

The Krieg officer, as Fate guessed he was, thrust his sword at Fate's chest, only for his blow to be halted by her Barrier jacket. She slashed again with her massive blade, and the officer defiantly raised his own sword to block. It actually managed to stay in one piece, but it couldn't stop the sheer kinetic force of her weapon, and the officer was sent flying back into a charging soldier.

Three of the soldiers were still charging rapidly, wielding the blades on the end of their rifles like a spear. Thanks to the relatively light weight of the crystallized energy blade, though, Fate was able to quickly recover and take another swing before they reached her. The gleaming yellow light cut through all three in an instant, and they fell to the ground a moment later.

Fate faintly heard whirring sound behind her – like a bombardment attack charging.

Before she could turn, immense heat and force slammed into her back, and propelled her forward – she landed face up in the mud, dizzy and with Bardiche nowhere to be seen. "Alert. Barrier Jacket Integrity: Twenty-two percent." Bardiche warned, speaking into her mind. "Location: Approximately 1.5 meters to your left, sir."

Fate looked to her side – the long glowing sword was clearly visible, just out of reach. She looked up. A Krieg soldier was running towards her as quickly as he could, carrying a large weapon glowing with blue light from a series of cooling fans.

Fate raised her hand, but, still disoriented from the first attack, the soldier was quicker. His steel-toed boot slammed into her nose, and then stomped down on her chest. The blows didn't hurt as much as they should have, thanks to what remained of her barrier jacket. But the weapon he was now pointing at her face probably would.

The machine whirred, light and steam poured from its vents, and the inner mechanisms glowed through the barrel.

"Non cosi dura ora, strega?" He said, the light from the weapon reaching blinding intensity.

Fate couldn't see to effectively fight back, so the only option was a defensive spell.

"Defens-" Fate began, when suddenly the soldier howled in pain, turned the weapon away, and fired, releasing a wave of heat to wash over her. The soldier quickly turned the massive weapon back onto her – as quickly as he could wielding something of that size, anyways.

"PSYKERS MALEDETTO!!" He screamed, the weapon stirring to life again.

Fate was ready this time. A faint golden light materialized around her hand, already pointed at the soldier, who was too lost in his fury to notice.

"Photon… Lancer!" Fate shouted. The small sphere of light slammed into the soldiers chest with a brief flash, and he stumbled backwards and fell seated to the ground. Fate clambered to her feet, reached out with a strand of magical energy, and drew her lost device to her hand.

The soldier wasn't giving up. He clumsily raised the strange weapon once again, and for the fourth time it illuminated with energy. "MORTE!!!"

Fate swung her device down upon him, cutting into his weapon and hand. "MORTE!!" The soldier shouted again, and the whirring did not stop.

"Blitz rush." Bardiche said, and Fate felt her body filling with lightness and energy once more, through no will of her own. "Alert: Target Core Reaction."

Fate lifted a decimeter or so off the ground and flew backwards. A brilliant flash filled her vision, and the air grew hot with the riotous release of energy. The light faded, there were a few more cracks of lasers and various sounds of energy bolts. Then, a relative silence descended over the field, though the whispers of overhead Krieg Bombardment-types and distant sounds of battle still reverberated.

"Status?" Fate asked.

"Barrier Jacket Integrity: Fourteen percent. Damage to jacket structure, twenty-one percent. Mana levels nominal. Minor core damage – condition green. No active threats detected."

"Thank you, Bardiche." Fate said as Lt. Creighton landed next to her.

"Damn. They're tougher than I expected. We've got twenty injured, another dozen already dead…another one of those Armor-Types… and we'll be finished. Two more units left. Remind me again why we can't just drop an Arc on these bastards?"

Fate tried to avoid sighing as she looked around. There were dead or unconscious Krieg soldiers everywhere, but there were nearly half as many from the TSAB, and the Krieg weapons were far more lethal, if not more powerful. Screaming, a bombardment attack landed about fifty meters from them, as the Krieg section on the left turned towards them, on the right, another aerial section was engaged.

"The ground forces will need our help." Fate said. "We should go support them."

K3 Magical Energy Accumulation Type Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0746 Hours

Subaru leaned against the wall near the plant's main lobby. Mach Caliber was helpfully displaying a map of the facility, as well as any life signs she could sense. Stealth wasn't normally part of Subaru's style, but it was indicated there were at least ten creatures waiting in the lobby, and she figured that was worth some forethought.

"Right behind this door, you mean?" Chief Peel transmitted silently. "Alright, we'll have to find another way around. The walls are reinforced nanotubes. We'll need twice as many cartridges to break through, but we can do it."

"Err… maybe you could come up through the windows? I'll set up a Wing Road, and you walk in?"

"Don't think I haven't considered it, but we'll need a permanent entrance. Something we can get lots of people and equipment through if necessary. It looks like the best entrance is on the south side. There are some vents there. It'll take a while, though."

"Alright. Hold on. I'll get through here." Subaru replied.

"What? Straight through the… alright, you're the combat veteran. Just don't die on me, Nakajima. I don't need the paperwork."

Subaru advanced as sneakily as she could in skates – which wasn't very, but it seemed to work. She peered around the corner into the lobby, where three Orks, one a bit larger than the others, stood near the door, arguing.

"Da boss said 'lock up da generator building, and don't let any humies in.' We'z supposed to wait for more o' da boyz to come, so we'z wait for da boyz."

"Dat's no good. We aught's ta be fightin 'dem. I say we bop the lot of 'em, and den we can wait for da boyz."

"You wanna take it up with da boss? We locks dis up, and da meks make it orky. Den we gitz da teef. Now stop talkin', before I smak ya."

The smaller creature promptly stopped talking after that. The lobby was fairly large and fancy for a power station, but all the random debris had been gathered in front of the door, which also had several large pieces of metal that looked like they had been part of a reactor shield.

There wasn't much she could learn from waiting around. Subaru sped out from behind the wall – immediately, the creatures attacked with their pistol weapons, and one began charging up the staircase.

"How'd dat humie get in?" The large one shouted. "Nevamind, just kill it!"

Subaru rode towards the edge of the walkway near the staircase, vaulted over the railing , drove the wheels of her skates into the head of one of the creatures as she fell, pushed off him and sped towards a second, rounds whizzing around her.

The creature in front of her loaded another box of cartridges or something into his weapon, and charged forward, discharging the weapon and waving his knife – Subaru punched him in the stubby nose, knocking him to the ground.

One of their attacks struck her right side as she hopped over the stunned creature. A cartridge activated in her Revolver Knuckle as she raised her arm.

"Revolver Shoot!" Subaru shouted, a wave of air sweeping that creature into the wall. She pointed towards the large creature, and another shockwave lanced out, to crash into him and the two others nearby.

Dozens of craters appeared in the outer wall as Subaru sped towards it. She leapt at angle to the wall as she approached and rode along it, swinging her left arm back.

"Shell Protection!" She yelled, a sky-blue circle of energy laced with silver appearing before her hand, a series of projectiles impacting the barrier as she landed back on the floor. Ahead, the large creature had already gotten back up, and was running screaming towards her with a massive axe in his hands.

Subaru swung her fist at the creature's chest as she raced closer, and it heaved its axe. The blade slammed into Subaru's armored wrist, chipping her Revolver Knuckle and knocking her strike off course. The creature swept a the axe back upwards, striking a sharp spine on the back against Subaru's cheek. The barrier jacket blocked most of it, of course, but it was still enough to send her reeling.

She would have fallen down entirely, but Subaru extend her arms behind her and let her momentum carry into a backward flip, kicking him in the chin as she spun past, and landed on her feet.

Subaru wiped a streak of blood from her stung cheek. Another creature charged behind her, howling. She turned just as his axe swung toward her, and ducked under just in time. Subaru counterattacked with a blow to the abdomen, and he growled and fell backwards, but stayed on his feet – without some momentum, even her strength couldn't disable one of these creatures in a single blow.

Something tugged hard on Subaru's head, yanking her backwards before she could attack again. Someone hit her right knee, and Subaru fell to the ground, the large creature standing over her.

"WAAAGGHH!!!" It roared as it swung its axe – Subaru reflexively moved out of the way – it wasn't a very effecient motion, but it was enough that the blade crashed into the tile a few centimeters from her ear, rather than on her face. Subaru raised her arm in preparation to use her Shooting Arts…

The creature's ranged weapon barked, Subaru felt a sharp pain in her lower torso, and lost focus. He tugged on his axe, then, apparently finding it stuck, leapt on top of her.

The creature's massive weight stunned her for a moment – a moment it took to wrap one massive hand around her neck, and draw its other hand into a fist. Subaru tried to pry his hand off, and block his blows with her left, but it wasn't working. His vice grip choked despite her barrier jacket, and the rain of hammer blows wasn't getting through, but it made it impossible to respond.

"YA! YA! KILL 'EM!" One of the creatures shouted from somewhere. "SQUASH DAT UMIE!"

"Barrier at 20%" Mach Caliber said. "Jacket Purge on your mark."

Subaru's eyes watered, her head hurt, and she struggled to breathe – she knew she couldn't take much more of this, but a jacket purge would leave her defenseless and probably get her killed anyways. Fortunately, that wasn't the only thing she had left…"Activation Serial 0-04, Code B-982" She thought to herself – it wasn't hard to be earnest enough in this situation. An electric shock ran through her body, followed by a feeling of warmth… and strength.

The creature raised its fist to strike again – Subaru caught its blow in her hand, and pulled its other hand from her throat. She slammed her knee into its chest, momentarily stunning it – long enough for her to push it off and slip out from underneath.

"I get im!" One of the other creatures shouted. Subaru aimed her hand at him as she quickly rolled to her feet – a moment's concentration and a wave of compressed air swept him away. She spun and kicked the large one as he approached, knocking him to the ground.

One of the creatures charged up – Subaru continued her spin and slammed her fist into his face, shattering one of his large tusk-like teeth and knocking him out. Now having a clear shot, one of them with a large weapon fired a barrage of shots at her.

"Shell Protection!" Subaru shouted, a rough pattern of rectangles materializing in front of and sweeping away the projectiles. She pushed forward, and rammed the barrier into the creature, shoving it aside, just as she brought up her knee to strike him. She sped towards another, blocked his axe handle with her left hand – and knocked him out with an uppercut from her right.

That left just her and the largest creature, which had gotten back up, and was now more furious than ever. He hefted his huge axe, bellowed incoherently, and charged. Subaru leaned forward, and Mach Caliber's internal dynamos accelerated her towards the creature at high speed. With a shout, she leapt into a flying kick just as the creature swung its massive weapon.

It only took a moment. She flew over the cleaving weapon and the wheels on Mach Caliber slammed into its head – Subaru was going fast, but her momentum was hardly a match for the eight-foot tall creature's mass – she fell backwards and landed on her rear in front of the creature, which dropped its axe, groaned, clutched its head, and collapsed.

Only Subaru stood up. Her automated sensors told her the creature was still alive - and told her to kill it, to her annoyance. She ignored it and skated over to the doorway.

"I'm sorry if I went too far." Subaru said, as she detached a D-Cartridge from her belt, and set it to manual detonation.

"No Problem. Stresses well within tolerance. I apologize – it seems you have taken some damage…"

Subaru's cybernetic processors identified the weakest spots in the barricade - she adhered the rectangular metal box to one of them, and massaged her throat – still sore from the creature grabbing her.

"Yeah…" Subaru said, pulling one of the creatures out of the blast area. "I'm fine."

"Well, the noise has stopped…" Hayes transmitted.

"I'm safe. Cartridge set, I'm just clearing the unconscious out of the way."

"Good. Trivial damage taken. Recovering."

"Nakajima, you're insane." Peel said over the transmitter. "Brilliant, but insane. Set your cartridge to channel three."

Subaru rolled up to the wall, adjusted the D-Cartridge, and rolled back to a safe distance.

There was a brief whistle, and then, three Demolition Cartridges detonated in a blast of brilliant rainbow-colored light and spray of dust.

The rest of the precinct walked in, keeping their distance from the creatures on the ground, a few of them pointing devices toward them.

"Damn. I like this girl." Someone said.

"Well that was impressive." Peel said. "I've read your application… I know you didn't join to fight…but I'm afraid their might be more ahead."

"That's okay." Subaru said. "If that's how I can help most, I'll do my best."

"Master." Mach Caliber whispered into her mind. "You've forgotten-"

"I thought you'd say that. Hell of a first day, huh?" The Chief said, and then his expression suddenly turned quizzical. "Weren't your eyes green a moment ago?"

"Umm…"

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Command Center

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 10 kilometers west of Feine

9-458-004M42

"Assault on the road ahead of schedule." Major Delkis reported, his voice distorted over the link. "We have met little resistance thus far – they're mostly trying to slow us by demolishing the elevated pathways - but Sentinels are reporting heavy concentrations up ahead. Nothing we can't handle."

"Good." Colonel Vincent von Ferrograd replied. His table chart updated – but little had changed. The lines remained mostly static, except in the south, along the road, where the Korp was swiftly rolling the enemy back. Casualty and kill reports filtered in as quickly as they could be processed. The advance platoons had been cut apart, but they had sold their lives as dearly as could be expected, pushing into the fabric of the city itself and slaying at least as many of the enemy's number.

Their assessment of the enemy forces put their number at a little over a thousand. It was surprising they were lasting as long they had, honestly. Perhaps they had been reinforced. It mattered little. Either the city would be overrun, or encircled.

"5th Company. What is your status?"

"_As you expected, the city is evacuated."_ Commissar Harrian reported, instead of the Company captain. "We have moved off the main road, and are proceeding as planned."

"_Colonel!"_ Captain Weilkins of the 94th's 1st Company reported. _"We've made a breakthrough… well, of sorts. They came at us, borne aloft by witchcraft. They seemed a bit tougher than the others, but without any entrenchments, they were pretty easy targets."_

"What did I tell you?" Major Caulen commented.

"What do you mean, a breakthrough 'of sorts'?" Commissar Bezeika asked.

"_Well, they've retreated, but it might just be to regroup. And C platoon is gone."_

"That is irrelevant. You still have enough forces to advance. Roll them up to the south." Vincent said

"Sir, report is that C Platoon was primarily destroyed by a single witch of exceptional power leading a small contingent. She was able to destroy on Chimera with a single blast of witch-fire, suppress another group, and proved impervious even multi-laser fire. She may have also wielded a power sword."

"Exaggerations are made." Bezeika said. "You have your orders. Carry them out."

"Show me the pict recording from C's chimera if you have it." Vincent ordered. "Just before it was destroyed."

An orderly adjusted something, and a picture hovered over the table, flickering and finally coming to show the view from the pict-caster linked to the vehicle's multi-laser swiftly turning to focus on a distant, fast approaching figure apparently carrying a brilliant yellow blade bigger than it was…

"Stop. Zoom in on that."

The motion of the image halted, and the figure grew to a little under a foot tall. It was a familiar shape to him.

"Target Beta-Two." Commissar Einz said.

"Impossible hair girl." Caulen commented

"She could be troublesome. We should show these videos to the brains, see what they make of it."

"Sir, I will send someone to eliminate the threat now. One of the best fighters in the Line Korp." Commissar Einz said. "I require a grenadier squad and a Chimera."

"Done." Vincent replied, although it wasn't really a suggestion.

An alert symbol flickered on the chart table they had infiltrators attacking the basilisk batteries. The small icon of one of the guns went dead – that unit, it was apparently only a small number, had been making hit and run attacks on their artillery since the battle began. Vincent ignored it. When the city was taken, the heavy weapons could be rallied.

The Colonel pointed at a spot on the chart, about a third of the way up the line. "Send the 3rd Company here, Straushaum."

"Yes sir." Major Straushaum replied.

"Also, dispatch three lances from our 4th Company, including both anti-personnel lances, to here… and here…"

"As you wish." Major Caulen said.

"Hold to the faith, hold to the pattern." Vincent said. "I want this matter resolved by midday."

City of Whithaum, 31st Ground Special Investigations Company HQ

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0747 Hours

One thing Hayate had learned in her eight years of service was that troubles never traveled alone, and today was not disappointing. The withdrawal from Foevir forest, at least, had gone well. Without their faster vehicles, by the time the Orks reached the outpost, the last of the helicopters was already lifting off, so Section One got away without incident. Well, not quite without incident – some were wounded from the earlier fight… and Private Eskaron, Silverbolt 4, hadn't made it. Plus, they'd had to leave the DN-381 behind, but that could be replaced fairly easily…

Then came the second set of trouble. Around 0400, when most of the city was sleeping and Hayate was trying, a little over a dozen unauthorized flights had been detected. Whithaum Aerial Management had thought it a group of mages with more power than sense at first…

The contacts split up and made a few circles of the town, before four of them homed in on the port… and then the shooting started. The vehicles strafed the night crews,. killing seventeen people, sinking two large cargo ships and a little over twenty smaller boats, and severe damage had been done to the Victor Mirage, an old Mid-Childan oceanic destroyer docked in port as a museum ship.

The damage would probably have been much worse were it not for a blatant disregard for safety procedure. Victor Mirage's weapons had been disconnected and disarmed, but not completely disabled, and the museum staff had somehow managed to coax its kinetic defense projectors (something like a 'flak cannon' back on earth as far as Hayate knew) back to life, and shot down two of the attacking craft, causing one to crash into a line of yachts docked in the marina and another into a cargo warehouse.

Naturally, in a brilliant demonstration of the TSAB's priorities, the whole 34th Ground Battalion had been mobilized to arrest the museum staff, and by the time anyone got around to doing anything about the flyers, the rest were gone. The one that had crashed in the warehouse had been found mostly intact – a kind of strange combination between a motorcycle and helicopter, apparently crafted out of spare parts, two large kinetic weapons beneath, and the equally strange pilot smashed into a crate not far away – a creature, clearly not human, green-skinned, bulky, and with too many teeth.

The 34th didn't know exactly what it was, so they did the logical thing and notified the convenient investigation company. Hayate borrowed an official car, and drove over to the port with Vita, and confirmed that the creature was definitely an Ork. It was upon their return to the HQ that the third problem appeared.

He was standing on the stairway up to the building – a blond man, around 30, wearing a grey suit and sunglasses, obviously waiting for someone.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami." The man said. "I need to speak with you."

"Uh… Okay…" Hayate replied. "I have a meeting to attend in half an hour, so I suppose I have time. "

"Good." The man displayed an ID. "Inspector Wheaton Langley." He put his hands in his pockets. "I'm afraid high command is not happy with you."

"Yeah, well, what else is new." Vita said

"And you must be Vita." Inspector Langley said, smirking. "I expected you'd be taller."

"Is there any chance you're here to help me find the Ork base?" Hayate asked, hoping to head off the upcoming disaster. "Or bringing reinforcements?"

"Unfortunately, no. Command… has some concerns about the management of your unit."

"Well, this isn't really a convenient time to discuss it." Vita said – with remarkable restraint by her standards. "If you haven't noticed."

"She's right, I'm afraid" Hayate said, shrugging. "Maybe we can talk about it Wednesday? I can't make any guarantees, of course, but…"

"They wouldn't like that…" Langley said, putting one hand to his chin. "When I said not happy, I meant… well, they're really mad."

"What's the problem?" Hayate asked.

"And you're not telling us something." Vita added. "What is it?"

The inspector hesitated a moment, and said "Colonel Yagami, I've been sent to arrest you."

What happened next happened very quickly. There was a flash of scarlet to Hayate's left, and Vita stood in her armor with Graf Eisen pointed into Inspector Langley's face. Then, with a series of faint pops, half a dozen men and women in Enforcer barrier jackets appeared behind him.

"Stow your weapons and armor!" One of the Enforcers shouted "Surrender, and you will be allowed to speak in your own defense."

"You're going to need more than that!" Vita shouted back, raising her hammer.

"Explosion!" Graf Eisen said, followed shortly by the boom of a cartridge detonating.

"Wait! Don't–" Hayate said, as she stepped in between Vita and the others.

A sharp whoosh sounded as one of the Enforcers discharged an energy bolt, which had struck the side of Hayate's unprotected chest in the blink of an eye.

A tingling pain, and intense weariness, washed over Hayate's hip where she had been struck and raced through her mind. The force of the blow knocked her backwards, she stumbled, and nearly fell to one knee, but kept her feet – and kept consciousness.

"Sorry!" Langley quickly interjected. "Stand-"

"You little!" Vita shouted.

"Please…" Hayate moaned. "Stop…"

"What's going on here? Who the hell are you?" One of the officer's from Hayate's unit shouted, running up on the right wearing his barrier jacket and pointing a device at the Enforcers.

"Stow your weapons!" The head enforcer shouted. "EVERYONE, stow your weapons!"

Vita interposed herself in front of Hayate much as she had done moments before – although it was a little less effectively, given the height issue, but… admirable in its dedication anyways. "Hell with that! If you think you can fight somebody with a weapon, stay, otherwise-"

"I wasn't shooting at her, you idiot, I was trying to shoot you." The enforcer responsible said.

"Nobody needs to shoot anybody!" Hayate said, recovering her voice somewhat in all the excitement.

"What she said." Langley replied. "Tholias, calm down. Lieutenant, please lower your weapon. We can talk this out. I think-"

Langley's expression changed, somewhat, his eyes widening with sudden surprise. "-What the hell is that?!"

A faint rumbling echoed behind them – in front of Langley. Hayate turned, to see two… somethings… trailing vast quantities of black smoke, flying quickly towards them. The things came closer, and Hayate recognized the basic outline of a winged aircraft – vanishingly rare in Mid-Childa, and ones that spewed that much exhaust nonexistent.

"Orks?.." She half-wondered aloud.

The enforcers had noticed it too, and promptly lost all interest in her, aiming their devices skyward.

"Lieutenant Colonel?" The officer from her company – someone she didn't recognize, unfortunately, she hadn't learned all the faces yet – said "Are you alright? Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hayate replied, trying to step toward the aircraft, and efficiently disproving her point by nearly falling, saved by the officer catching her.

"Watch out!" someone shouted. The aircraft dove in close, and as it did, a series of flashes appeared along its wings and cockpit, glowing-white bolts rained through the sky and detonated in small bursts on the ground, buildings, or whatever they hit – which seemed to be just about anything, they didn't seem very accurate.

"Get her inside, now!" Langley shouted.

"No…" Hayate said, closing her eyes and focusing on the form of her armor…

Nothing happened, except a crushing pain rolling through her mind (which is different from a headache)… what had the Enforcer done to her? Hopefully it was just the after-effects being hit by a magical attack unprotected. With the officer's support, she stepped up the stairs towards the entrance."You got her?" Vita asked quickly, a triangular crimson shield radiating from the outstretched tip of Graf Eisen.

"Yes sir!" The officer replied.

"Good!" Came the response, and Vita let the shield fall and flew off to intercept the quickly closing aircraft.

"Attention all citizens of Whithaum." The cool female voice they seemed to use for all these announcements said over all available loudspeakers. "Multiple aggressive intruders are now within the city. Citizens are advised to remain-

The rest of the announcement was drowned out by the vessel as it roared overhead, its engine noise deafening. It was too moving to fast to get a good description, other than wide-winged and red, and the weapons, although inaccurate as ever, now saturated the courtyard.

The officer holding Hayate held his other hand out, an emerald halo of light deflecting what seemed like a dozen attacks.

Then, with a sound like shattering glass, they broke through. Another shattering, and he fell back onto Hayate, a burning pain again running across her right hip. The aircraft screamed away, gaining altitude and still outrunning the scarlet streak chasing after it.

"…police, please report to your duty stations." The announcement finished.

With far more effort than it should have taken, Hayate crawled out from under the officer, placed her hand on his neck to check for a pulse, and immediately realized she didn't need to when she saw – his body had been… ripped to pieces, was the only description she could think of - instinctively, she recoiled.

Inspector Langley grabbed her under the arms, and dragged her to her feet, and helped her to the shelter of the HQ building. "I think high command will have to wait. Come on!"

A video monitor appeared besides her, showing Signum standing in the command room. "Hayate. I heard you were injured?"

"Uh… I'll be okay. It was just… an accident."

"I see. Well, Reinforce will be meeting you soon. With your approval, we need to mobilize the company."

"Sure… but I think we could destroy that ship by ourselves…"

"That's not the problem." Signum said. "The Orks are attacking in force. There are at least three thousand of them coming out of the forest in the south."

"What?" Hayate exclaimed, opening a survey view monitor – a wide red band hung just south of Whit River, already crossing the 6th and 8th Street bridges. "How did they get here so quickly?"

"Perhaps they ran all night. Or came in vehicles, they have a large number with them."

"Well, at least with all the armed forces in this city… they don't outnumber us quite so badly this time."

"Judging by all the red…" Langley said, pointing at the survey view. "I think command might be waiting for quite a while."

18th Ground Battalion Headquarters, City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0750 Hours

"This is Section 2, 41st Aerial. They're tearing us to pieces up here! We have no room to maneuver… they don't stop coming!"

"Fall back, and take defensive positions!" Colonel Sochor snapped back. "Repeat, take defensive positions and do not advance."

"My men aren't trained for that kind of combat." Aerial Forces Captain Levinson replied.

"Well, they're going to have to learn." The Colonel said. "18th Ground Section 1, what is your status?"

Teana had never been in a command room during a battle. The giant monitor at the front of the room flickered with blue and red lights – red marks appearing as Krieg troops were spotted, only to vanish as contact was lost or they were defeated. And steadily, the blue symbols indicating Mid-Childan units fading to grey, a stoic "Contact Lost" announcement beside them.

18th Ground, Section 1 was one of those units, the entire section suddenly graying in a matter of moments.

"18th Ground, Section 1, come in, what is your status?" Colonel Sochor repeated.

"My team just took down another launcher. Captain Ferdinand thinks he might have a visual on their jamming device." Officer Nolan from the Third Permanent, whatever the heck that was, said. "It's pretty well defended, but do you want him to destroy it?"

Somehow, Teana thought, this was somehow busier and worse than actually being in the battle. Busier because when you were fighting, you only had to worry about yourself and your immediate subordinates, and worse because you could do nothing but idly watch as people fought and died by your orders… She, meanwhile, could do nothing but watch.

"No… not yet." Sochor said. "Southerland? You still there?"

"Yes sir." Major Southerland of the 18th Ground Battalion Replied. "Our delaying strategy worked, but they've reached our secondary defenses with a massive force. Bigger armor-types too… tanks. They're concentrating shelling on our position as well, most of our forces are staying on the lower levels… but we're holding out, for now. Where are those reinforcements!?"

"On their way, Major. 121st should be here in thirty minutes. Just hold on." Colonel Sochor said, looking up again at the monitor. A thin red line pressed against the entirety of the city, but many more were concentrated in the south, pushing through the Grand Central Highway.

"Understood, but we can't hold out much longer. They're forming up for a big attack, we need orbital support now!"

"Negative. REMF's say no-go on the Arcs. Usually bull about environmental hazards. I'll try to get some reserves, see if any rear attackers are on hand…"

One by one, most of Section Five of the 18th Ground Division suddenly turned grey.

"Major? Come in, Major!"

There was no response.

"Damnation!" The Colonel swore. "Anyone from the 18th Ground, what's going on?"

"I don't know! We just lost contact with the major! They're firing bombardment attacks, but they're bursting in the air…"

"Their command crawler is still transmitting." An officer in the command room said. "It's reading high concentrations of Class B neurotype toxin… commencing spectral analysis."

"All units, this is Colonel Sochor. We have reports of Class B Neurotype Toxin. Set up Barrier Jacket environmental filtration systems, specific spectral analysis on the way."

A chorus of 'Yes sir!'s echoed from the various videopathic monitors.

"Filtration, Class-B Neurotype, set up." Cross Mirage said, before Teana could even think of asking.

"Sir." Major Beck's voice came over a Videopathic connection. "Things are calming down around here. My 4th and 6th section could be transferred…"

"Understood. Get them down there." Colonel Sochor said.

"Colonel Sochor!" Teana said, seeing her chance to do something for a change. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go with them, sir."

"No offense, but one extra person isn't going to do much good, especially considering your injury."

"It's not like I'm doing anything around here!" She snapped back. "Besides, it might make a difference, and I'm not going to let a little scratch like this stop me."

The Colonel paused for a moment. "The bulk of the fighting seems to be in that region." He turned to a videopathic monitor. "First Section, sitrep."

"We're still mostly intact, everyone still alive, by the grace of Fortune and Powers. Not much action here."

"Sir?" Teana asked, suspecting he was ignoring her. "If you don't need me here, I'll be leaving now."

"I'm afraid that's about to change. Move to reinforce the 18th's line at the Grand Central Highway, there's a massive attack coming. Enforcer Lanster?"

"So?"

"Come on, you can join the First Section with me. Captain Benke will give the rest of you your orders, per my instructions."

The Colonel stepped back from the command table and drew a small black cylinder from his pocket, and said, quite calmly. "Vanguard Apostle, set up."

A mottled green outfit, like old-era military fatigues, replaced his Ground Forces uniform with a violet flash, and he held a black staff with a metal wing motif at the end in his left hand.

"Well. Let's go before we miss the truck."

K3 Magical Energy Accumulation Type Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0748 Hours

Subaru tried to think up a good excuse, but only managed to look away and stammer "Uh… well, it's not… it's nothing imp-"

Fortunately, she didn't need to. Chief Peel interrupted her with a sharp "Behind you!" and aimed his device at something at her back. Subaru turned to see about five of the creatures from before charge through a door about 30 meters away, discharging their weapons. Peel was the first to return fire, a ray of gold light slamming into the lead creature and knocking him off his feet.

"WAAAAAGGGH!! DA ORKS!!" One of the creatures shouted.

Subaru charged forward towards them, a hail of magic bolts rushing past on either side, projectiles from the creature's weapons slamming into her barrier jacket. Two more of the creatures went down before she reached them. She punched one of the remaining creatures in the chest and sent him flying, and spun to face the last, just as he was hit in his tusked jaw by a bolt that slowed him long enough for three more bolts to finish the job.

"You first!" A shrill voice shouted from Subaru's right, where the creatures had come from.

"No you! Dey have guns!"

"GET SHOOTIN, YA GROTS!" A much deeper voice shouted.

Subaru turned just in time to duck under a flying green… something. A veritable carpet of olive-green creatures, much smaller than the ones she'd seen before, and with thin, triangular bodies rather than the square, bulky bodies of the others – eight of which followed the little ones, prodding them forward.

"That's a lot of… what are those things?" Someone asked – apparently they weren't to confused to fight, because a couple of bolts whizzed past Subaru, one striking one of the creatures and knocking it out. In response, the little creatures – most of them anyways – raised little pistol-type weapons of their own, and opened fire at the nearest target – Subaru.

"I don't know." Peel shouted over the din of weapons. "Engage!"

Subaru held out her right hand and, without thinking, raised a barrier. These small creatures were a bit more accurate, but their projectiles were smaller, and rained of the sharp angles of force like… well, rain.

"Revolver!" She shouted, lowering her defenses for brief moment and once again gathering energy around her fist. "Shoot!"

Subaru punched the air, and a shockwave lashed out to sweep nearly a dozen of the little creatures off their feet. The rest keep coming, and Subaru quickly raised her Protection spell again as she pushed herself towards the swarm.

Two or three of the creatures she had knocked down got back up, but torrents of device bolts slammed into the horde. Without really thinking clearly, she dropped down into a foot-first slide as she reached the little green men, clearing them out of the way like torn paper and crashing into one of the larger creature's ankle.

The large creature stumbled to the ground as she glided underneath and slid to a halt. Subaru then realized she was now on the ground, with half a dozen of the large creatures and who knew how many little ones around her.

"I'm going to have to start thinking these things through someday." She thought to herself as a larger one charged, holding a pronged metal rod out like a spear. She raised her Revolver Knuckle, casually transferred some energy from her Combat Cyborg reserves, and a wall of wind swept him into the air and slammed him into a nearby wall.

Quickly standing while wearing roller skates was far from easy, but Subaru was good at it. It still took her about a second to get up, which one of the small creatures used to grab onto her hair ribbons – again.

The creature bit down on the back of her neck and jammed a knife into her shoulder – even through her barrier jacket, it still hurt. Instinctively withdrawing from the pain, she reeled directly into the path of a larger creature as it swung a small grey baton.

As the baton struck, a sharp crack sounded, static ran over her vision, her barrier jacket flickered, and an electric shock ran through Subaru's body, causing her to stumble as her body jerked involuntarily. The creature raised the baton again – Subaru drew back her fist to counterattack –

But before she had a chance, a golden energy bolt slammed into the creature's chest, a moment later, the little creature was flung off her back, and in another moment a second gold bolt put the large one down.

"_Word of advice."_ Chief Peel mentally whispered. _"Lose the ribbons."_

Another one of the leaders thrust out his baton towards her. Subaru dodged, grabbed his arm, and forced the tip back onto him as she slipped to the side. A shiver of energy convulsed through her arms, but the creature howled in pain and fell to the ground. A smaller one ran towards her, holding a hatchet over its head like a battle axe. She kicked it away, and turned as a screaming large creature (she needed to come up with better names for these guys) ran up behind her, and let her spin carry Revolver Knuckle into his jaw.

"WAAAAA-" The last remaining large creature screamed, cut short by an emerald beam.

The few smaller ones left quickly attempted to flee, running past Subaru, off to the side, or even, in one case, into the vents. When it was finally quiet, everyone gave themselves a moment to catch their breath.

"Anyone hurt?" Peel asked.

"Hayes is." Lesli - the novice Subaru had tried to advise in the truck – said.

"I'm not bad at all. One of the little buggers shells hit my arm, nothing a little med-gel won't fix. These guys aren't so tough really."

"Still – don't get overconfident. We know the basics at least, but we don't know how many of these… orks, did they call themselves? – there are."

"Hey, Subaru." Lesli transmitted. "I still can't believe you just slide tackled those… little things. And then disarming that other one…"

"Whatever they are." Hayes replied. "They stink."

"_You spent the whole time watching me, didn't you?"_

"Right. Well, my sensors show…"

"_No! I just happened to notice… anyway, way cool."_

"Dis ting on?" A gruff voice interrupted over the intercom, probably one of the creatures. "Ya, we'z da orks. And we'z da killiest dere is. I'm Mek Knokskull, and I'm lootin this 'ere place, fair an square!"

Peel shrugged. Another officer called up a monitor showing a small schematic, and the Chief walked to the wall and pressed a small button.

"We can hear you, Mech… Knockskull? I'm Chief Peel of Special Rescue and Response Mobile Precinct 13, representive of the Time Space Administration Bureau, and I am willing to surrender this facility on the condition that you release any hostages you may have taken."

"What you say? Dats a lotta big words."

"Uh… we'll depart, you can have the building and everything in it, so long as you let the people leave with us. If these terms are not acceptable, I can contact one of my superiors for further negotiations."

"Wut? Dez humie slaves are mine too! I looted dem first! You can't have 'em!"

Suddenly, Subaru noticed an erratic mechanical tromping outside – she'd missed it, somehow, in the din of the battle.

"I'm afraid I can't make that deal here. I'm going to contact my superiors."

The others in the Precinct had noticed too, and began to turn towards the large gap they'd blown in the wall.

"I'm 'fraid yer about ta get stomped, ya humie gitz! I can't wait to test out my new killa kan!"

"Killa can?" Peel asked, confused. "Killer can? What's a killa-"

The source of the tromping was revealed as a large cylindrical walking… machine… thing a little over three meters tall with a giant pincer for an arm on its right and a big, faintly glowing weapon on the left, all crudely manufactured and painted with a strong yellow and black scheme.

"Uh…" Peel said. "…Focus fire."

He didn't really need to make the order – some of the Precinct had already started shooting. It wasn't a particularly easy target to miss, but their shots left only dents, dissipated on the surface armor, or shattered entirely. The thing hesitated, stepping backwards, as though hesistant to enter the fray.

"Don't just stand dere! Stomp em!" Mech Knockskull shouted "WAAAGH!"

"WAAAGHH!" A surprisingly shrill voice echoed from a loudspeaker on the side of the machine, and the right weapon flashed with angry orange light as the walker stepped forward, slamming its claw into the remaining wall and pushing through the rubble.

"Let's take it down!" Subaru shouted, Mach Caliber's motors gave her a boost of acceleration, and she sped towards the big construct, weaving through the other precinct members. The giant's claw snapped down – Subaru couldn't see where it hit – and withdrew painted with red. Peel shouted an incantation she properly hear, and a bright gold ray swept towards it, piercing the top right of the cylinder, and crumpling the metal there. Immediately, the machine turned its ranged weapon and fired. Out of the corner of her eye, Subaru saw a circle of gold sigils appear to block the shot, but the sheer force still sent the Chief flying.

As Subaru approached, a rescue officer held her device out in a defensive stance in front of her as it drew back its claw to strike.

"Sorry!" Subaru shouted, shoved her to the ground, and ducked just as the claw clacked shut over her head, one of her white ribbons falling severed to the ground, but otherwise leaving her unharmed. Then, the walker shifted and swung its claw in a sweeping backhand that caught Subaru in the shoulder, sending a jolt of pain through her arm and herself flying through the air to land roughly on her back ten feet away.

The 'killer can' – that's what it had been called – slammed its metal foot down on the officer Subaru had pushed out of the way – her jacket probably protected her though… probably. Its shell was now pock-marked and discolored from the barrage of attacks that were still continually pounding it, but it showed no sign of slowing down. It fired a blast of orange brilliance from its ranged weapon, which slammed into the floor, turning the concrete into a spatter of molten rock.

Subaru regained her footing, as a blue ray struck the killer can's claw, breaking off a small piece – not enough to really hinder it, though. Someone rushed forward to help the rescuer who'd been stepped on. Subaru skated back towards the fight – but not fast enough. The claw lashed out and caught the man around the waist, picked him up, dripping blood, slammed him into the ground three times, and hurled him in the general direction of the rest of the Precinct.

Subaru shouted in anger and frustration as she charged, weaving to the rear of the machine. It swung its claw at her, but couldn't quite reach, and fired the range weapon at something else. Subaru aimed for what she could reach – the legs, and gathered energy around her fist.

"REVOLVER!! CANNON!"

This time, she didn't release the force into a shockwave of air. Instead, she wrapped the energy around her, transferring it directly through her body, up her arm, and into the machine. The immense force ripped through the killer can's leg, shattering a piston driver.

A golden beam nearly half a meter thick struck the walker dead-center, scorching its shell and peeling metal away like hot wax. But then, when the beam dissipated, the front had been burnt black and twisted metal hung from it like ribbons – and the Killer Can raised its claw in front of it like someone covering their eyes, giving Subaru time to continue attacking its right leg, but it did not fall.

"This thing HAS to have some weakness!" Peel shouted over the din.

The cylinder atop the machine turned with surprising speed, bringing its ranged weapon to bear on Subaru. The barrel flared.

"DEFLECTION SHEILD!" Subaru shouted, a pattern of precise lines and numerical symbols appearing before her just in time. Heat washed over her, leaking through enough to sting her face and body in spite of her barrier jacket... Nothing should be able to hit that hard, it wasn't fair – the blow pushed her back, her skates keeping her mostly upright – at least until she reached the rubble around the door, which promptly sent her sprawling.

The Killer Can turned back just as quickly, sending a rescue officer flying to the side as its claw whirled – but their attacks had done some damage. It limped as it advanced now, and seemed… less efficient somehow. Subaru did what she probably should have done earlier, and cycled through her vision modes, looking for some way to stop it. There was definitely a pilot, but it seemed as though the pilot was almost part of the machine, permanently fused in – like… like a cyborg with the machine components on the outside.

As Subaru climbed back to her feet for what seemed the tenth time just in time to see Lesli simply vanish underneath the walker's ranged attack, shield and was even younger than Subaru, she had trusted her… this thing had hurt enough people. Subaru decided a cyborg with machine components on the outside was close enough.

"Mach Caliber. Load catridge."

Both cartridges discharged as Subaru rushed forward. It reached down toward Hayes, claws open, ready to finish him. Then, it noticed Subaru behind it.

The thing inside the machine decided the one who had already hurt it was the bigger threat. It was right. Subaru charged forward, furious but having decided, consciously, to do something she had done only fourteen times before – eleven times just to know she could, and the other three in a blind rage…

"I.S.!!" She screamed, focusing power in Revolver Knuckle with all her will, until it formed a corona of energy nearly visible to naked eye.

"VIBRATION!!!"

The Killer Can fired its range weapon, but Subaru's jump had cleared her out of the way – an impossible heat passed underneath her, feeling like it gave her legs a week's sunburn in an instant, but it had missed. The terrible claw whirred towards her, held vertical. She shifted her body to the side, and the blade merely brushed against her jacket.

"SHATTER!!!!"

Subaru slammed her fist into the center of the cylinder, below which the pilot was implanted, and discharged the energy she had gathered – not in a single mighty blow, but a rapid series of strikes, each perfectly calculated by the processors built into her own body for maximum destruction.

The giant machine whirred under her fist. She curled in midair, pressing the skates of Mach Caliber against its hull as it buzzed, and she pushed off, landing on her feet two meters away.

The thing stopped, raised the claw as though to protect itself – and then, suddenly, began to seize up violently, its arms twitching wildly. Oil – most likely - spurted from gaps in the machine's hull, then the ranged weapon discharged into the machine's own leg, toppling it to the ground. The claw clanked feebly as the whole assembly smoldered.

Subaru averted her eyes from the catastrophe that she, and more pressingly, it, had caused.

She could hardly imagine so much blood could ever be in one place.

City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0751 Hours

A section's worth of Krieg soldiers marched down the street below, spread about three meters apart, fervently searching for any sign of TSAB personnel as they walked.

"This is actually working. I'm impressed." Lieutenant Creighton said.

Fate nodded, and turned away from the window. In the end, they hadn't be able to support the Ground Forces section – there were just too many attacks in too many places, but fortunately, it seemed the attacks were now coming without accompanying Type I's.

"Can you handle this? I should probably go help the other sections…" Fate asked.

"Yeah, we got it."

Perhaps the Krieg had concentrated their heaviest forces in the first wave, Fate wondered. If that was the case, they could probably hold out… unless the Krieg bombardment shook them to pieces first.

"Alright. Keep to the buildings."

A monitor suddenly appeared in midair near Crieghton.

"Lieutenant, there's an Armor-Type incoming. I think they… it's heading straight for us!"

A series of sharp cracks pierced the air – first distant, then close as half a dozen lasers passed through the windows.

"It's a trap." Creighton said in disbelief, as his soldiers began returning fire.

"I see that." Fate said, leaning around the wall, and firing at one of the Krieg soldiers as they ran to cover, knocking him down. She took aim at another, as a laser passed within inches of her ear and fired a bolt. Another two lasers passed entirely too close, and she ducked back.

"Bastards sprung our own trap on us!" Creighton shouted, firing a barrage out the window. Fate took a moment to concentrate, four lances of energy materializing around her, turned to the window behind her, and pointed a finger outwards, projectiles streaking outwards.

Two of them struck their targets. One of the soldiers stood up and fired, his shot slamming into the shoulder of Fate's jacket. She shot back, sweeping him off his feet, and took cover again.

A small metal cylinder arced through the window. Pretty much everyone in the room looked at it quizzically – then it exploded, sending a couple of Aerial Forces officers sprawling to the ground, mostly unhurt.

"Krieg crashed through the wall downstairs!" Creighton shouted, firing a couple more shots "Ten of them, their weapons are… different."

"This under control?" Fate asked – whatever was downstairs seemed like the bigger threat for the moment, so the most powerful mage on hand should deal with it.

"I think so." Creighton replied. "We have this under…"

One of the Aerial forces officers had already moved to the stairway, leaning around, looking for targets.

A red line of light flickered past her, but it didn't vanish immediately like the others, and instead glowed steadily and swept over to her, flaring against her barrier jacket. She drew back in response.

Fate ran towards the stairwell to help. The laser beam died away, and another explosive cylinder flew up the stairs. The officer leapt away as it detonated, landing flat on the ground. Fate fell into a crouch about a meter behind her, raised Bardiche towards the stairwell, and gathered energy around her.

"Plasma Lancer." Bardiche said, three bolts of force manifesting.

A soldier sprinted up the stairs, sliding to a halt and bringing his weapon to bear. Fate didn't waste time getting a good look, and just unleashed the three lances at him – all slammed into his chest, and sent him stumbling to the ground.

The Aerial Forces woman started to rise to her feet as another two Krieg soldiers charged up the stairs. They were wearing armor over their coats, big backpacks, and skull shaped masks.

"Commissar, The witch is here!" One of the soldiers shouted – apparently, the translation system was working again. Both of them turned their weapons towards Fate.

A beam of light lashed out from the right-side soldier's weapon, striking her jacket in the middle of her chest. She felt a painful heat against her skin, and immediately dove to the side, drawing magical power into her as best she could as she rolled. The laser scorched its way along the floor after her as she rolled to her feet, and flung her arm towards the soldiers.

Four bolts of energy lashed out, three of them impacting the soldier with a thwap. He jerked backwards, the beam from his weapon twitching across the ground – two more shots came from the side, one striking the soldier's jaw and instantly crumpling him to the ground.

The other soldier ducked to the side, firing at something behind Fate. The Aerial Forces woman now struggled to her feet, returning fire at him.

"SOLDIERS OF THE EMPEROR!" A man shouted at an absurd volume as he ran up the stairwell, shoving the soldier out of the way as he charged.. "KILL THESE FRACKING WITCHES!"

Fate fired a pair of bolts towards him – both shattered into flickers of light as if he was wearing a barrier jacket – maybe he was – he was certainly dressed differently, in a black coat, a bit like hers, with red trim, a red belt, golden breastplate armor and a very large, pointed hat. In one hand, he held a large pistol with a cylinder on the front, and in the other, a strange looking sword. She knew she had to hit him with something harder, but there wasn't space for a bombardment attack…

In the moment Fate took to look at him and reach a decision, the man charged at the Aerial forces soldier, who had just finished standing up and fired three shots at him – three shots deflected off his barrier. He yelled, raised a weapon to her face, and fired, knocking her to the ground again.

"Bardiche!" Fate said – there wasn't much choice but to fight him up close. "Haken Form!"

"Yes sir!" The device replied, as its blade rotated upwards. A scythe of erratic magical energy erupted from either side of the emitter… too slowly.

The man slammed his foot down on the officer, and the sword in his right hand roared. Fate immediately charged towards him, raising her weapon to strike. The soldier looked up at her and grinned as he drove the buzzing blade into the woman's chest.

The weapon flickered against what was left of her barriers and then plunged through. She screamed for just a moment as blood sprayed through the air, coating her killer.

Fate shouted in fury as she swung. The man raised his weapon in response – apparently it was made of something tougher than steel, because it stopped the crystallized energy blade in its tracks.

Fate wasn't expecting that. She definitely wasn't expecting her weapon to be pulled hard to the right, lost her balance for a second, and stumbled. Her opponent swung, a series of sharp stings raking across her side through her jacket with enough force to knock her to the floor. Fate rolled with the momentum of the blow, rolling to settle on her knees, generally facing her foe.

Two more Krieg soldiers fired at what was left of the Aerial Forces soldiers near Lt. Creighton. One of them went down, a laser having scorched through his jacket. Fate's attacker ran over to her, a magical bolt scattering against his barrier, raised his sword with a bellow, and swung down.

"Defenser." Bardiche said, as Fate raised the staff to block. The buzzing weapon skittered and sparked against the barrier, and didn't break through, though the man wasted no effort in the attack – he was strong – stronger than her at least.

"DIE!!" He screamed, drawing his sword back for another swing. It was only a brief moment, but Fate took it, unleashing the energy of the defensive spell in a single swift blast. The man flew backwards, nearly flipping over, and landed in a crouch.

He seemed to be quite fast as well. Fate raised Bardiche for another attack, and the man tensed to counter her charge…

"HAKEN!" Fate shouted as she gathered more energy around her blade.

Unfortunately for him, she wasn't going to charge. That didn't stop him from running towards her, closing the gap with surprising speed.

"SLASH!" She finished, swinging the scythe beam down – it detached from the haft itself, and swept towards the man – he raised his own weapon to block, not quite quickly enough. It caught him across the chest, raising a shower of sparks from his barrier, and a long scorch mark across his coat.

The man changed his stance, putting his shoulder to the side, and just ran into her. Fate had expected her hit to take him down, or at least slow him, and his sudden ramming caught her by surprise. Mage or not, when a charging soldier perhaps twice her size struck her 50 kilogram frame, she went backwards.

The initial impact sent her about three meters, and worse, shocked her into losing her grip on Bardiche. Again. The attacker's strange weapon scraped against her knee – still not penetrating her jacket, fortunately – she wasn't sure what it was, but it couldn't be pleasant. Fate tried to brace herself, and stumbled over something - she glanced back to realize the attacker had pushed her all the way to the edge of the building, where something had blasted a hole in the wall, scattering debris around.

He seemed to rely on close combat, so he'd need to keep close – there was a chance this would just leave the others exposed, but it might draw him off, or at least give her an opportunity. She ceased her resistance, allowed the man to shove her back over the ledge, and hovered in the air. She expected he'd try to attack the others there, but that she should could stop him or at least break his barrier before he'd get the chance.

She had not, however, expected him to take a flying leap off the building and grab hold of her leg.

Fate barely registered what had happened before the sudden addition of an extra eighty kilograms or so dragged her to the ground.

The man crashed down heavily on top of her, knocking the breath from her and breaking her flight spell.

The man grunted on top of her, rose to kneel, and swung his roaring sword down. Fate recovered her senses and shifted just in time for the blade to ram into the ground next to her,centimeters from her cheek, flickering against her barrier jacket and vibrating through the earth.

She got a good look at the wielder too – he was big, square-jawed, and had a scraggly beard and hair, tinted with grey, dark eyes livid with fury.

The man yanked at the weapon stuck in the ground, but it didn't budge, for now.

"DIE, WITCH!" He shouted, and swung a scarred fist and struck Fate in the cheek – the barrier took most of the blow, but he hit hard, and drew back to strike again.

Fate raised her hand in the intervening time, her open palm nearly touching the man's face, and shouted "PHOTON LANCER!"

A single brief flash of energy slammed into the attacker's face – he jerked back for just a moment, which Fate used to gather another wave of power and send it flying at him. The power lifted him off her and sent him staggering backwards. Fate rolled aside into a crouch, stood fully, focused her will once more.

"THUNDER!" She shouted, a sphere of light and magic circle coalescing before her.

Her opponent had mostly recovered by now, pointed his pistol at her, and fired twice. Fate noticed something hit her, but it wasn't enough to break her concentration, so it probably hadn't penetrated. Since she didn't have a device, she struck the orb with her palm.

"SMASHER!"The power contained within boomed out in a beam of gold light, but her target had recovered, and quickly dove aside. The blast caught him in the legs sending him spinning away – he dropped his range weapon in the impact, and it was instantly disintegrated as went on to bore through the abandoned building behind him.

It still wasn't enough, the man stood up, his shoes and lower pants scorched even blacker than before, snarled, and ripped off a smoking metal collar from around his neck and retrieved his sword, which had dug itself out of the ground nearby

Bellowing, the man raised his sword and rushed towards Fate, as she focused on another spell. Instead of forming another attack, though, she invisibly gathered energy around him, wrapping it around his wrists and ankles. She finished with a sweeping gesture of her hand, and sparkling shackles appeared around his limbs just as he prepared to swing.

"I… WILL… RIP… YOU… APART!" He snarled, struggling against the binding. Fate ignored him, and stepped back. She had to get Bardiche back. She darted around the side – the man was apparently pretty strong, or something, because the bind was crackling with stress – it wouldn't last long, and she leapt back towards the building…

"STOP HER!" The man shouted.

One of the armored soldiers leapt out from behind a counter and ran towards her, ignoring the flurry of bolts around him. Fate shifted aside, letting his momentum carry him past – but as he passed, he turned, grabbed her around the chest, and kept right on going off the side.

The two of them fell back to the ground – Fate pried the soldier's hands off and stood up – he didn't resist, either he'd knocked himself out, or possibly killed himself dragging her down.

"You people are insane!" Fate said.

"YOU ANIMALS…" The man said, one of the leg shackles breaking. He shifted the sword still relatively free in his right hand... – and cut off his left arm. "DO NOT DESERVE TO EXIST"

The remaining binds shattered from his sudden effort, and he spun around, blade roaring. Fate ducked back just in time, as the blade raked across her cheek – her barrier was still strong enough to reduce the injury caused by the spinning blades to a scratch, but if it had hit her directly, it could have been lethal. He lunged forward, and brought the weapon around to strike again – she couldn't back away this time.

"Thunder Arm!"

Fortunately, he was attacking from the left. She raised her gauntlet, illuminated with magical energy, and his blade clattered against it. He strained closer in, and the sound of tearing metal - and burnt hair – he'd hit caught her left tail in the swing, was almost overwhelming.

Suddenly, a sharp pain sent her reeling to the ground as he brought a knee into her chest. He turned the blade around, and drove it down on top of her.

With what was left of her barrier jacket energy, it wouldn't have been enough to stop the whirling blades. Fortunately, it didn't need to – the remnants of the chain, worn off by her gauntlet, whipped around once and flew into the air, although being hit by a large metal stick still hurt.

"_Jacket Purge._" Fate mentally commanded.

The remaining energy of her barrier rushed outwards in a blast of force, taking the enemy officer flying away with it, she leapt to her feet, ignoring the ache from the various hits she'd taken, her clothes vaguely faded.

"JUST…" The man shouted, drawing his broken sword back. "DIE!"

Fate ducked under as he hurled it towards her, and then, weaponless and with one hand gone, he charged. Fate gathered all the power she had left, raised her right hand, and sent pure electrical energy streaming towards him.

It wasn't really a spell, or a very good attack for most uses, but it worked here, an arc of gold lightning pulsing between them – the officer howled in fury and pain, marched stubbornly forwards for a few more steps, and collapsed to the ground.

She stopped before it certainly killed him – he kept crawling forward a bit more; another soldier fell out of a nearby window with a gruff shout and landed with a crack. Someone else landed beside her, and he rolled over onto his back.

"Damnation." Creighton said. "We've got to get out of here. Half my section is wounded, another quarter dead or just gone."

"This is yours." Another aerial forces officer said, holding Bardiche – Fate quickly retrieved it, and aimed at the downed officer.

"_Sir._" Bardiche transmitted. _"Apologies for my inability to sufficiently aid you._"

"_It's not your fault." _Fate replied, before quickly adding to her defeated enemy. "You're under arrest for large scale disturbance of the peace… and worse things, probably. Surrender…"

"Just shoot the bastard and get it over with." Crieghton suggested, the faint electronic tinge of a stand-by auto-translator fading from his voice. "You don't have to kill him, just put him out for a few… oh, days."

"I think he's someone in command." Fate said. "We may be able to learn something from him."

The man on the ground smiled broadly, and reached into his coat.

"BOMB!" Someone shouted.

"Photon Lancer." Bardiche said, gathering the small amount of requisite energy by itself and discharging it along Fate's vague urge to react. That was… new.

The man promptly went limp as the bolt impacted him, and whatever he was trying to reach didn't activate… probably.

"I'll take him back to headquarters." Fate said.

"You're injured, sir." An Aerial Forces officer volunteered. "I'll carry the prisoner for you."

"It's not that ba…" Fate began to reply, looking herself over, then realized it wasn't entirely true – she was hurt along her left arm, and a few places on her chest and legs, in addition to her cheek. It wasn't serious, but enough that she should probably see a medic. "So I am…"

The officer nodded. "There's a forward medical station a few kilometers from here." He tapped a few buttons on a pop-up monitor. "There. I sent it to your device."

Fate had a sneaking suspicion he just wanted to get away from the front – even though this section probably wouldn't be sent back in its condition, but she acquiesced anyways.

"Alright. Tell Teana to secure him when you get there, and be…"

"INCOMING!" A woman shouted. A moment later, a bombardment attack screamed in towards them and exploded in midair, showering a nearby building in particles. A second attack was not so fortunately placed, and burst nearer. One of the officers watching the perimeter flew backwards, blood leaking from a dozen puncture wounds. Something hot whizzed very close to Fate's cheek – of all the times not have a barrier jacket.

"Defenser Plus!" She shouted, shaping energy into a protective shell, just as another attack burst almost directly overhead, showering them with fragments. Another screeched in and slammed into the top of the building they'd been occupying, then the projectile itself spiraled off and landed nearby. Fate got a brief look at it – it was definitely a physical object, cone shaped – before it exploded.

"Of all the blighted…" Creighton swore… "Damnation, where are **our **rear attackers."

"Don't exactly come with every kids meal." Someone commented.

Another shot detonated overhead – Fate could feel the impact of a hundred tiny metal pieces against her barrier. "Do we have a plan? I might not be able to keep this up longer than they can."

"Uh…" Creighton replied. "Black Abyss. Mobile Barrier Formation, you can do that, right?"

The last time Fate had attempted that technique had been three years ago, for her A Rank Aerial Tactics exam, and she hadn't been very good at it. "I can." She replied. "We might have to go a bit slow…"

"Lieutenant, we have too many wounded!" An officer shouted over the sound of the bombardment. "We can't carry them all at once!"

"So we take more than one trip." Creighton replied. "Aura Protection."

Another sphere of protective energy materialized nearby.

"Agent, we'll try to get as many out on the first run as we can, then you can get to a medic, if you want. If you can fly, grab someone who can't Let's get out of here.."

There were eight who could. Out of what had started as a fifty member Section. Each aided one of their wounded comrades, and one of them cast some kind of binding spell on the unconscious Krieg officer, which established a magical chain that would presumably drag him along behind. It might intermittently carry him outside of Fate's barrier, but it was apparent no one was particularly concerned by this. Nine others had to be left behind under Creighton's barrier, two of whom were in good enough condition to theoretically fight.

"I can't raise command, so the others will just have to do. In five… four… three… two… one… go!"

The group lifted off the ground as one, or something like it. Fate kept her focus as another shell exploded nearby, scattering shrapnel against her Defenser. The rest of the group arranged themselves in rings around her, within three meters, and the protection of her spell.

"Alright, forward in three." Crieghton ordered. "Don't go too fast."

Fate accelerated fairly steadily forwards towards the nearest medevac station, and the others kept formation. It worked almost perfectly, and they quickly escaped the danger zone, whereupon they broke formation, giving an opportunity Fate to rebuild her shattered Barrier Jacket.

It was harder than usual. Without the excitement of battle, the various little injuries she had sustained were starting to hurt – it wasn't something she couldn't deal with, but it was distracting – fortunately, it wasn't long – maybe two minutes - before they could see the medical station up in the distance. To their surprise, laser fire whipped up towards them as they approached, but they all managed to land safely in the small clearing.

Lasers and magic bolts snapped nearby – the station was under attack.

"What's going on?" Creighton asked as he landed, laying his unconscious XO on a pad near a medical officer.

"They're attacking, obviously." The medic replied. "Section 3 from the 200th is holding out, but… what unit are you? And who's that guy?"

"41st Aerial, 2nd Section. We couldn't get in touch with command, and the other half of my section is still at the front… and that man is a prisoner. Make sure he's secured, because he's very dangerous."

"Understood. Anyways, the front?" The medic said. "This is the front now. Command was starting to think you were all dead."

"Just most." One of the other aerial officers said bitterly, as more medics went around, checking the wounded with scanners.

"Do you need my help defending?" Fate asked.

"No, we're pulling back to the command center as soon as we can."

"Alright." Creighton said. "Second trip."

"Hold on." A different medic interrupted, pointing at Fate and a nearby Aerial officer leaning against an ambulance. "You two aren't going anywhere."

"I can still fight." Fate objected.

"You have serious burns to your back, and half a dozen lacerations…"

"I'll be okay." Fate said

"Yes, if we treat you. Look, we're getting out."

"And I'm not leaving the others behind." The leaning officer said.

"You have a broken ankle!" The medic shouted, exasperated. "You can't walk! You – can – barely – stand!"

"So? I can fly." He noted.

"Look." The first medic said – Fate wasn't all too familiar with Special Rescue uniforms, but it looked different, so she was probably an officer. "I think I have a few people on hand who can h- DUCK!"

A bombardment attack screamed in, detonating over another ambulance and reducing it to a pile of twisted metal.

"CHIEF!" A rescue officer shouted, standing up from behind a bench, bleeding from near the waist. "We need to leave now!"

"Right. You two. In the truck." The apparent Chief said. "The rest of you, load the triage patients into the ELs, and get them out of here."

Fate still thought her injuries weren't too bad, but she got in the back of the nearby ambulance (apparently the designation was EL something) without protest. Meanwhile the examining medic, scanner still in hand, practically dragged the aerial forces officer in, quickly exited, and shut the door behind him.

The vehicle was already fully loaded – two life pods near the front, occupied, two cots in front of those, occupied and with stasis fields active, and quite possibly more life pods underneath those cots and the ones the two of them were sitting on.

Fate heard the precinct chief shout something, a loud crack like thunder, and the vehicle began to roll away. She peered out the small window in the back door as they left, and saw about a dozen Krieg soldiers charge into the clearing, lasers firing. The ambulance driver pushed the vehicle to its full acceleration, and its tires screamed as it pulled away, one of the Krieg men raising a large weapon towards them as his comrades fought around him.

"DEFENSER!" Fate shouted, expending a cartridge to raise a barrier in the back of the ambulance. The weapon flashed like a strobe light for a moment, and it got very hot in the rear cabin - but they were safe, and the soldier turned his attention to the ensuing battle, which, fortunately, his side seemed to be losing.

"So…" The aerial forces officer with her said. "Bloody fun day, huh?"


	4. Chapter 3: First Battles, Part 1

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Command Center

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 10 kilometers west of Feine

9-471-004M42

Vincent glared at the chart table as the black icon indicating 94th 1st Company, 6th Platoon approached the North flank, where two others had gone before, and died before. Commissar Einz' 'champion', and a squad of Grenadiers, had likewise been swallowed up by this… witch. Beta Two. The moment the feed from his pict-caster had cut out, Einz had ordered an entire battery concentrate fire on that point.

Everywhere else, things were going fairly well. Everywhere, the enemy was fleeing into the heart of their city. The assault along the road had slowed – it seemed that the gas did not have the effect they expected, no doubt some witchcraft protected the enemy, but it was moving steadily, the foe was weakening, and _Hell's Postboy _would soon attack, which would surely crush any remaining resistance.

"That… girl… must surely be dead by now." Einz said. "She proved quite a thorn... if they have another like her, I will become quite angry."

"We will know soon." Vincent said. "Even if not… we have encircled her. She cannot fight an army."

"We hope." Major Caulen said. "It strikes me that the enemy could not have expected the forces arrayed against us to be victorious."

"A delaying action." Vincent acknowledged. "No doubt they are marshalling their forces elsewhere."

"We'll wipe these out." Major Straushaum said. "And then we'll wipe them out too. We can set up a perimeter on the far side of this town. A methodical advance…"

"Is suicidal." Einz interrupted. "A Corp cannot fight a planet. Not like that. Our best option is to eliminate their centers of command. Kill the governor, lord martial, destroy their equipment, communications, utilities. With them crippled and in confusion, we have a chance of purging many more. Have you considered that they may have starships, which they could use to destroy us at leisure if we stopped?"

"No, I had not, sir." Straushaum said.

"But if they have orbital support, why haven't they used it already?" Caulen asked

"Enough questions." Einz snapped. He seemed a little less… volatile…Vincent thought, since they had landed. Perhaps he simply did not like starships.

The Commissar was also right, although Caulen had valid question. Vincent's suspicion was that they were too soft to order a bombardment on their own world. This city was evidence enough. Any competent general would have drafted the populace to fight, rather than letting them scuttle away like rats. But perhaps they would fire, if there were no 'civilians' in the way.

"_Colonel von Ferrograd." _Captain Weilkin's voice crackled over the vox. _"I think I found the site you were looking for."_

"Is the b – is the witch dead?" Einz demanded.

"_No sign, Lord Commissar. There are a few dead psykers here, and the grenadiers, but no sign of this… Beta Two… or of the Commissar."_

"I see." Einz replied, cutting him off.

"They took the body?!" Straushaum spat. "Vile, thrice cursed witches…"

"Or took him alive, perhaps?" Vincent asked.

"It's just like last time, isn't it?" Major Caulen noted. "In the bunker. She vanished, along with one of our men. Perhaps…"

Caulen stopped before he said, but everyone knew what he had meant. A sacrifice. Some form of… dark magik (not that there was another kind), that they used to escape… Vincent didn't know how it would work, and didn't want to.

"She can't outrun the Emperor's Justice forever." Straushaum noted.

"_We're ready for the final push._" Colonel Notting said, from the front. _"Third Platoon will go first. What with their weapons, this might be disappointingly safe."_

"Excellent." Vincent said. "Caulen. Order Fifth Company to begin its attack. Crush them."

* * *

City of Whithaum, 31st Ground Special Investigations Company HQ

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0749 Hours

The Ork aircraft sailed overhead, trailing smoke. Well, they had always been trailing smoke, but seemed to be trailing more than usual as the light of half a dozen bombardment attacks trailed after them. One struck home, just under the right aircraft's wing, and the craft tilted and spiraled to the ground, sending up a plume of black smoke when it hit.

"I hope that didn't land on anyone important." A Ground Forces officer said as the second zoomed away, flame blasting from its engines.

Hayate looked at her survey view. It was hard to interpret, as contacts kept flickering in and out of sight, but it looked like that while the main mass of Orks was heading for the 6th and 8th Street bridges, a smaller detachment was breaking off, heading westwards.

She activated Battalion General, and said. "This is Lt. Colonel Hayate Yagami. All personnel report to headquarters immediately."

"I'll ready my section." Signum said, and closed the videopathic transmission.

"What? More of them?!" Someone shouted.

"Yeah." Inspector Langely said. He was still around. Hayate tried to remember what, exactly, someone could want to arrest her for, especially at a time like this… it had to be a mistake, or someone trying to get back at her for some real or imagined slight…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the roar of another aircraft sweeping directly overhead, leaving a thunderous crash in its wake. Two more followed it. Then another – some of these were bigger, huge engines on the wings, and armed with even more weapons…

Shells raked the pavilion in front of HQ – not hitting anyone, fortunately, it had mostly cleared of people – these versions could apparently fire backwards.

She took a moment to call up her armor, piece by piece, and it worked this time, although it still took much more effort than it should have.

An alert monitor flashed in front of her. Incoming transmission, 38th Aerial Command Training Company.

"Huh? Langley said. "38th ACT? Who the heck is calling now, of all times?"

One way or another, Hayate thought, the day was getting more interesting by the second.

* * *

Art Morris Public Elementary School for Gifted Children, Serial 381

Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0748 Hours

The school parking lot was completely devoid of cars - strange, since class started at eight, and a lot of parents dropped their children off beforehand… much like her.

Nanoha Takamachi drove through the drop-off zone, pulled into the nearest parking spot, wiped her nose – she had a bit of a cold - and shut off the car.

"Nobody's here…" Vivio observed, looking up at her mother in confusion.

She was right. There was no sign of anyone around – indeed, the streets had seemed almost empty as they drove, but…

"The lights are on in the school, though…" Nanoha said as she opened her door."I think school's out, but let's see if anyone's inside, first."

There wasn't any need, since a woman walked out the door as soon as Nanoha stepped out of the car. Nanoha recognized her as the school's secretary, although unfortunately, she couldn't remember her name… L something.

"Hey!" Nanoha called out. "Miss, eh…"

"_Laures"_ Vivio transmitted, tugging on her skirt. She'd mastered that about three months ago – and hadn't spoken for three days afterwards in all the excitement.

"Miss Laures!" Nanoha corrected as the woman walked closer, looking a bit harried. "Is today a… planning day or something?"

"Planning day?" The woman replied. "You don't know? It's been all over the news… I expected you were there by now…"

"Know what?" Nanoha said, a feeling growing that it could not possibly be good news.

"I'd have thought you'd be the first to know, being an armed forces officer and everything…" Ms. Laures said, leaned in as if telling a secret, and whispered. "There's been an attack."

"An attack? On the school?" Nanoha replied – someone must having been trying to hurt Vivio, there were a lot of people who didn't...

"No, not on the school. In the west… there's an invasion, or terrorist attack, or something… everything's closed, except the hotels, since there's a large-scale evacuation…"

"No way! Another attack?" Nanoha exclaimed. "You're right, it is odd I haven't heard… but I didn't watch the news today…"

Nobody said anything for moment, as Nanoha tried to process what she'd just heard… who could possibly be attacking Mid-Childa now…

"Uh… I guess I'll be heading back in." Miss Laures said. "I need to wait here till eight."

"Yeah. I should probably go to work."

Miss Laures walked back to the school, and the Takamachis walked back to their car. Nanoha sighed as she sat down. Before she could do anything, she needed more information – a location, at least. Someone at the 38th had to know about this, so she keyed in the command center and set her car to auto-drive.

Vivio looked up at her as the car slowly drove itself out of the parking lot, her multicolored eyes wide with concern. Understandable, considering what happened to her last year…

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Nanoha said. "Hmm… I could take you back home if you feel safe there, or you could come to work with me… you'd probably have to sit in my office though."

"I wanna come with you." Vivio replied.

"Okay." Nanoha said. "I'll call Mama Fate and Hayate, maybe they can help."

The car accelerated as it turned onto the main road, and Nanoha keyed in Fate's personal access code.

'ACCESS DENIED – THIS CODE IS NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE' flashed in the side window.

"That's odd…" Nanoha whispered under her breath. The only reason that particular message would be displayed was if the code had been shut down… or that part of the network wasn't working. She decided to try contacting Hayate instead.

'SEARCHING FOR SIGNAL – STAND BY.'

'CONNECTED – WAITING FOR RESPONSE'

The image of Hayate Yagami appeared in the side window, dressed in her armor – black 'leather', white jacket, and oversized hat. A bus… a PL-541 personnel transport – passed behind her.

"_Hey, Nanoha…"_ Hayate answered, clearly flustered about something. _"I __**really **__wish I could talk now, but… I don't suppose this is business?"_

"Eh… is this a bad time?"

"_Kinda. Whithaum is under attack by aliens, and my company is helping in the defence. General Shendaler hasn't spoken with me yet, but I expect he'll be calling any moment. So… it's kind of a bad time."_

"I see… that's… really bad. Aliens?"

"_I think so. I don't really know what's going on… but… I'll call as soon as this is over."_

"Stay safe. I might possibly be able to convince someone to let me come help…"

"_I was afraid you'd say that. Fate was away too, yesterday… have you spoken to her yet?"_

"No, I couldn't get in touch with her, it said her code isn't active."

"_Really? That's odd… I hope she's alright… she was investigating the attack on Zolice."_

"Yeah… I guess she must still be under communications silence… wait, there was another attack? More aliens?"

"_Not from what I heard… Anyways, I think…"_

"_Colonel! Now's not the time." _Someone said in the background, his (or possibly her) voice distorted over the telepathic communication.

"_I think I'd better go. Goodbye. For now."_

At that, the transmission ended. There were still a few minutes left to get to the base. Nanoha sighed.

"Is Aunt Hayate okay?"

"Eh. She'll be fine." Nanoha replied. "But… I am afraid I might be busy for a little while."

* * *

K3 Magical Energy Accumulation Type Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0751 Hours

"Everyone, form up and report. We still have a job to do." Chief Peel said, after what seemed like several minutes at least. "Come on. Stand to."

"What, go further in?" Someone quickly stammered back. "What if there are more of those things in there?!"

"Subaru, you hurt?" Hayes asked, extending an arm towards her. That was the first time she realized she was half-lying on the floor, and wasn't sure how she'd got there. The only thing of note she'd done during the intervening minutes was disengage her cybernetic power system - at Mach Caliber's behest, she probably wouldn't have remembered otherwise - before it gave her heat stroke.

"Uh… no." Subaru replied as she took his hand. "Not bad."

"If you don't want to go inside, you can stay here, attend to the injured." Peel was saying.

"Good. At least some of us are okay." Hayes said, lifting her up. "Sure you're alright?"

"I guess." She replied, shaking her head, reminding herself to keep focused. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Shouldn't we get out of here, and let the armed forces handle this?" One of the officers from Ladder 1 asked. There were little over a dozen left out of a thirty-person unit, and only half of those in any condition to do anything…

"I know." Hayes replied, then turned to address Peel "She has a point, Chief. They're definitely better suited-"

A deep, buzzing alarm went off, and few moments later a synthetic male voice boomed over the station's loudspeakers. "Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in -eight- minutes."

"What's that?" Someone said.

"I don't know." Peel replied, a monitor appearing before him "I'll try to access the computer system."

"Uh… there's too much energy collecting in the core. If it isn't dispersed, the capacitors will explode." One of the other rescue officers volunteered. "I uh… used to work in I17"

"Then we've got to get out of here!" Another person said.

"What's the point value on this place?" The former I17 worker asked.

"One point three billion." Peel replied. "That's bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure how bad… it would depend on circumstances."

"Worst case scenario?" Peel asked. "Klein? Anyone?"

Subaru pushed away from the wall. It was starting to look like there was yet more to do… maybe it would help in the end, maybe not… but she wanted it anyways… she thought.

"Not sure exactly…" the officer from I17, presumably Officer Klein, replied. "But it could be… a hundred kilometers?"

"That's bad." Subaru said. "That town we passed by is a lot closer than that…"

"I can't reengage the failsafe from here." Peel said. "We'll have to go into the control room."

"Control room path – no contacts." Mach Caliber commented.

"That's good." Hayes said.

"Alright. Anyways, I'd like at least a ladder going in. Klein, we'll need you."

"Yes sir."

"And, any other volunteers."

Hayes immediately raised his hand. Subaru raised hers a moment later, followed by three others whose names she didn't know yet.

"I need you to get the others out, Hayes. Two of the EYs should still be operational. We don't want them attacking from behind. Klein, Taylor, Nakajima, Ericon, Cutler, with me."

Captain Hayes looked annoyed, but nodded. "Understood, sir. I'll get everyone back safe, and head back… in case I'm not here in time… give my regards to the Orks."

* * *

City of Whithaum, 31st Ground Special Investigations Company HQ

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0752 Hours

"Who was that, anyway?" Langley asked

Hayate looked back in mild surprise. "Nanoha Takamachi."

"Ah, so that's what she looks like? I expected her to be a bit… younger, actually. You served with her?"

"I grew up with her… but you're right. We have a job to do." Hayate replied, and tapped Rein's code on her comm bracelet.

"_I'm on my way to you!" _Reinforce replied, audio only. _"I'll be there in just a sec…"_"Thanks, but it might be better if you started getting ready in the control room…"

"_I heard you were hurt, and I figured I needed to come help…"_

"I'll be fine. In fact, I'm pretty -" Hayate began, and paused as something came screaming in and exploded in the center of Victory Plaza, wrecking a lot of expensive paving stones but causing no important damage. "- pretty much better."

"So what do we do now?!" Reinforce yelled as she coasted out of a second story window and drifted to a halt just behind Hayate.

Langley held his fingers out in front of him, measuring out about six centimeters "I swear, our officers are getting younger every year."

Hayate and Reinforce both chose to ignore him. "Well…" Hayate began. "First, we need to mobilize the company, already working on that. Then we'll wait for orders from General Shendaler."

"Are we going to go ourselves?" Reinforce asked.

"I'd recommend against it." Langley said. "You know High Command…"

Ah. So maybe **that** was what this was about, Hayate thought… whatever the case, it didn't matter for now.

"Not yet." She said. "If they need more help, we'll go… and then we'll worry about convincing high command later."

A second videopathic monitor appeared besides the survey view, showing a grey-haired man in a staff officer's uniform – General Shendaler. Below his image were all the other Ground Forces battalion commanders in the group.

Hayate and Reinforce saluted.

"_Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm sure by now you all know the score. Home Zero, Away Two."_

One or two of the commanders chuckled. Major Swen, 298th Ground, looked incensed.

"_Har har." She replied. "We need help. Now."_

"_Alright, not funny. The enemy… 'Orks' I believe, was Colonel Yagami's designation, are launching an assault on the city. Hostile count is estimated at around three thousand…"_

"_Three thousand?" _The newly promoted commander of the 103rd Battalion asked._ "How could someone assemble an army that big without being noticed? Especially considering the sweep the fleet did after Scaglietti…"_

"_I have no idea. Investigation will figure it out…" _He indicated in Hayate's direction._ "But now, it's not important. Anyways, the Orks are launching a concerted on East Fork island – here."_

The survey view flashed for a moment, and then highlighted the island furthest west in the Whit River Delta. Thin, and a little under two kilometers long, it was a popular neighborhood for the city's well-to-do, who, Hayate thought, probably weren't feeling so well-to-do right now.

"_Ya think? We've got our backs to the bridge, and we need support NOW!" _Major Swen said.

"_**We're working on it.**__" _Shendaler said._ "Calm down. East Fork is our primary battleground… Police and Special Rescue are clearing out civilians as best they can, but it's more or less already overrun…"_

"_Mistress Hayate."_ Signum interposed, a purely mental transmission. _"Sections 1 and 3 are ready to deploy. Vita saw the fighting pursing that aircraft…_"

"_Also, 84__th__ has limited contact over the 8__th__ street bridge…"_ Shendaler continued _"We believe this is a second detachment, and Colonel Bello says his flyboys are engaging a large group of armor-types south of the river…"_

"… _so she's heading to West Fork." _Signum finished. _"By your leave, of course._"

"_Now. Your orders. 103__rd__, 718__th__, and 78__th__ will all concentrate on the West Fork front. 27__th__ will deploy along PEH 33. 31__st__ Company will be reserve, deploy your forces as necessary._"

"Understood!" Hayate replied, along with everyone else. _"Signum. Tell Vita she can go ahead, and take 1__st__ section there too."_

All the images disappeared, except for the general.

"_One last thing. The Orks are still transporting reinforcements over the southern half of the 6__th__ street bridge… our rear attackers have damaged it, but it's still an effective conduit. Colonel Yagami, destroy it."_

"Understood, General. Is the area clear?"

"_As best we can." _The general replied. _"Our forces have cleared out, and there shouldn't be any civilians left… it's them or us, Colonel."_

"Wait, destroy the bridge?" Langley interrupted. "It had to cost nearly a billion capital units…"

"I understand." Hayate replied. "Rein, I think I'll need your help for this."

"Got it!" Rein said, spreading her arms wide. "Unison… in!"

She vanished in a white flash. The weather that day, like most days in the city, was hot and still, but Hayate felt a cool breeze rushing around her, and through her; her body tingling with power that wasn't hers.

"_Ready!" _Reinforce's voice echoed from within her.

Hayate nodded – she wasn't actually sure if Reinforce could see/sense it, but did it anyways, and lifted a bit off the ground before speeding up into the air, rising a hundred meters or so, above all but the downtown skyscrapers.

She could just barely see the bridge, even without the steady streams smoke rising into a thick cloud over East Fork island. Fortunately, she didn't need to see. Hayate closed her eyes, and raised her staff before her, slowly gathering huge amounts of energy like a veil around her.

"_I see the mark…" _Reinforce said. _"Solution… set! Ready when you are!"_

"Come forth, the wind of snow…" Hayate whispered, opening her eyes. The book hovering at her side opened on its own, rapidly flipping through its pages. With a wave of her left had, the vortex of energy around Hayate coalesced, a blue-white magic circle blazing into existence before her, followed by six more around the central circle…

"_And become the fletching that falls from the heavens!" _Reinforce finished. With a final effort, and some help from Reinforce, Hayate imbued the ambient energy around her into the seven sigils, which began to glow sun-bright…

"HRAESVALGR!" Both shouted at once.

The beams fired off one by one with a rolling sound of thunder, starting with the main beam, and streaked away into the distance.

"_Beams on target…" _Reinforce said. _"Impact in eight seconds! Second wave, ready!"_

Hayate kept her concentration, channeling more energy into the spell, and six more bolts formed in the smaller circles, and likewise launched into the distance – she only needed to supply power, Rein actually controlled the spell.

"_That's it." _Reinforce said.

Hayate relaxed just a bit, not enough to disrupt the stability of the spell matrix, and wiped some sweat from her brow. The bolts themselves were barely visible in the distance, but were probably halfway to their target by now.

"Time?" Hayate asked.

"_Ah…" _Rein replied. _"Three… two… one…impact!"_

A immense white flash blossomed in the distance, followed by half a dozen more blasts close by. A second later, a row of flashes swept across the island side bridgehead. As the light faded, Hayate couldn't see what damage had been done at this distance, and she couldn't have taken out her sighting scope even if she had it – but the bridge was cable stayed. The initial burst would probably snap most of the cables, and then the bridge would collapse under its own weight – and of course, any Orks in the immediate area would be unconscious or worse anyways.

"_I have images from the BDA searchers." _General Shendaler transmitted. _"Transpo's not going to be happy. Perfect shot, that should slow them down. Now take command of your unit, Colonel. Our rear attackers will be able to handle long-range support."_

"_Understood." _Hayate replied. _"I'll do what I can." _

Hayate settled to the ground, and opened a survey window. The breeze ceased as Reinforce materialized on her shoulder, looking at the display.

"That doesn't look good." Reinforce said.

She was certainly right. In the southeast, where the bridge had been, the tan icons indicating Ground Forces sections were being drowned in a sea of red – most of the Orks, it seemed, had already crossed the bridge. To the southwest, a handful of aerial and ground forces fought along the Planetary Express Highway bridge. This was going to be a **long** day…

* * *

Grand Central Highway, City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0757 Hours

The PL-505 finally halted atop the Grand Central Highway, and the rear door unlocked. Bombardment attacks howled overhead, tearing dozen of tiny holes into the truck's hull.

Teana was next to the door, so she was among the first to exit. Outside was a… mess. The highway was torn to pieces, holes punched clear through in the upper deck, and strewn with the bodies of ground forces soldiers, some clearly wounded by the bombardment weapons, some with no visible injury. A row of mobile barricades waited nearby, it defenders struck dead at their posts. About another hundred meters beyond that was another row of barricades, this one manned by a dozen soldiers or so, and beyond that, yet another barrier. Defense in depth, ground tactics C. There would probably be another two or so past that, if the commander had been following 'standard procedure'.

"By all that is holy and unholy…" One of the Ground Forces men swore. "What happened here?"

"Neurotype gas, I think." Colonel Sochor replied, exiting the truck. "Lieutenant! Meet up with 18th Battalion's Subcommander... Captain Relin, he's up at the front. Squad Baker, stay with me. Lanster, go with the rest of them!"

Teana complied, running with the rest of the section along the highway, as bombardment attacks burst overhead, showering the area below them in tiny puffs of smoke as they impacted. In the distance, she could hear the crack of laser weapons, alongside deeper explosions, like their bombardment attacks. It was quite a long ways, but they reached the fifth and final set of barricades in just two minutes.

The front lines were being defended by a much larger group of soldiers probably an entire section on the top level alone, and no doubt more below. Teana walked up to the most likely candidate to be Captain Relin, a middle age woman about 65 or so surrounded by monitors.

The Lieutenant followed after her, shouting "Captain! Captain Relin!"

"Yes?" The woman replied. Teana stepped aside, clasped her hands, and awaited her turn.

"I'm with Section 1, 200th Battalion, where do you need me."

"We're employing defense in depth." Relin replied, "Concentrate your forces in the second line. And, I could use some people in the rail level. We're down to half strength, here."

"Understood!" The lieutenant said, snapping to salute, and went to order his subordinates into position.

"Sir!" Teana said, saluting. "Agent's Aide Teana Lanster, reporting for duty."

The captain stared at the bandages around her arm for a moment.

"Alright, if you insist…" She finally said. "I can't hold your hand, though."

"I don't need anyone to hold my hand." Teana snapped back, a bit harsher than she probably should have, but not as harshly as she wanted to. "Sir."

"Then take your position, Agent Lancer. They should have attacked four minutes ago, and I don't… do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Teana replied. Laser fire was still audible in the distance, but she other than that…

"Exactly." Captain Relin said. "Bombardment ceases before each attack. They're coming."

"Well, what are you waiting for!" The captain snapped. "Get to the barricade!"

Teana figured she was probably right, quickly ran over and crouched behind the mobile barricade.

"Nice jacket." The soldier next to her commented.

"Thanks." Teana replied, looking over the barricade – the highway ahead was choked with smoke – she couldn't see much more than a hundred meters.

"_All personnel, this is Captain Relin._" The captain's voice echoed over transmission. _"Enemy movement inbound – prepare for contact._"

Teana extended her right hand over the barricade, scanning for any sign of movement, and flexed her left hand. She had left it wrapped in static bandage sling, like the base doctor ordered, but she could use it if she needed.

"Condition All Green" Cross Mirage said. "No reactions, heavy jamming in area."

"Thanks." Teana replied, and waited. The smoke began to clear, but they could still hear the Krieg attackers before they saw them – the tramp of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of footsteps, and the distant rumble of armor types. She swallowed. This… might be a bit harder than she expected.

"_We're detecting a type I… keep your heads down, and take it out if you can."_

"Type Is are the big square vehicles, right?" Teana asked.

"Uh… yeah." The soldier who had complimented her jacket replied. "They shoot beams like, four times as fast, so watch out."

Well, at least she'd get to see if she could break through their armor… she was probably the best to try taking it out, so one way…

Without warning, dozens of Krieg soldiers emerged from the smoke like phantoms, and immediately opened fire. Teana flinched as a laser went zipping overhead, recovered from her shock, and fired back as the rest of the section did likewise. She thought she took one down, but couldn't be sure in the hail of multi-colored bolts – they were still far enough away most of the shots were missing, but a few hit their marks, and about four or so of the Krieg soldiers were down…

She aimed at a different soldier and quickly fired three shots – one hit him, driving him back, but it wasn't enough to take him down. A laser smashed into the barricade in front of her, chipping off a piece of metal, or carbon composite, or whatever. Teana ducked beneath the barricade, a crimson line flashing through the space she'd just been occupying.

About half a dozen Ground Forces soldiers were already shot and lying on the ground, but she couldn't worry about that now. Teana cleared her mind, and spent a few seconds concentrating, drawing the energy around her, and from Cross Mirage's cartridge, into ten orbs…

Having two pistols was convenient when shooting at lots of enemies, but it didn't actually make her magic any more powerful. She sprung up from behind the wall, a chance laser scattering off the center of her jacket. She ignored it.

"CROSSFIRE SHOOT!" Teana shouted, and two orbs each struck five soldiers – they all went down, although the last one staggered to his feet. They were only fifty meters distant now… and the Type I had made its appearance, moving up along the right side of the road – it was different, somehow, but she couldn't dwell on that now. She snapped a few shots at three more soldiers, and ducked again.

"_First Group! Fall back!" _Relin ordered telepathically. Teana wasn't sure which group she was in, but the soldiers around her quickly leapt up and sprinted towards the next barricade, so she followed after them, not pausing to look back as beams whizzed past – one struck the soldier from before in the leg, partially breaking through his jacket and tripping him up. One of the other soldiers immediately ran to help him… Without really thinking, Teana turned around, shot a Krieg soldier running towards the barricade, and then ran back to the second line – it was only about 8 meters away.

"_Second group fall back!"_ Relin ordered. The Krieg forces were close, though, and the Armor-Type was racing up the right flank towards, where one of the squads was now trying to disentangle themselves. The rest of the groups were fleeing as best the could, but the enemy was right behind them. Teana fired at a soldier as he started to climb over the barricade – the second shot sent him tumbling backwards.

The Type I rolled to a halt about a dozen meters from the line, where one of the soldiers stood up, rune circle glowing before him – and an arc of fire streamed from the vehicle's turret, washing over the squad like a wave. The machine rolled on ahead, crushing the barrier and their burning bodies beneath it.

"Cover me!" Teana shouted to no one in particular, pulling off her sling and gripping her pistol in both hands. "Cross Mirage! Aim Lock!"

"Confirmed!" The device replied, and a tiny videopathic monitor appeared in front of Teana's right eye. It showed the distance to the target, direction, and other things, but more importantly, could help her aim exactly where she wanted…

That was the difference she'd noticed. She centered the small reticule indicating her actual aim over the mechanism on the flame carrier's back – that had to be whatever it used to spout fire, and that meant it was probably volatile.

A laser bounced off her shoulder – that didn't concern her, although the armor-type was getting uncomfortably close to the second line. She focused, keeping her aim on the vehicle – Aim Lock couldn't work miracles – a glittering circle appeared in front of her.

"Cartridge Load! PHANTOM!!" Teana screamed, fully expending the energy of the cartridge, and anything else she could gather, until the pistol of Cross Mirage was practically shaking in her hands.

"BLAZER!!"

There was a crack of thunder as a golden-orange beam of light lashed out towards its target. It wasn't as wide as a small house or anything, like some bombardment attacks she'd seen – only about half a meter wide, but it was powerful enough.

To Teana, at least, time seemed to stand still as it punched a huge dent in the vehicle's armor, and then ripped through the mechanism. There was a moment's delay before a huge fireball mushroomed from the Type I, leaving nothing behind but a charred metal skeleton.

A shout rose from the defense line, but if it shook the enemy, they didn't show it. In fact, it seemed to mostly catch their attention…

Teana practically threw herself to the ground a moment before a dozen or so laser bolts rippled above her. She rolled over, unsnapped another cartridge, and loaded it.

"Barrier Jacket status?"

"Fifty-One Percent."

"That's all? Really?"

"Yes. And good shot."

Weapons fire began to die down, and Teana stood up just around the time the last attacker fell.

"_Get the wounded back!"_ Relin ordered over transmission. _"The next wave could be coming soon!"_

Soldiers had headed out, checking on the dozens of TSAB soldiers laying out on the field, almost before the announcement was finished. Teana didn't really know what to do, but started out anyways.

"Hey." Someone said beside her – the soldier from back at the barricade, lying behind the second barrier, a bandage wrapped around his ankle. "Thanks for your help back there."

Teana paused half over the barricade. Medics summoned auto-stretchers from storage underneath some of the wounded, which lifted off the ground and floated towards the back on their own.

Teana didn't think she'd done much, but nodded back. "It's nothing."

"Try recongfiuring the sensors, it can't be that big." Relin said nearby, apparently talking over transmission. "Alright. We'll get back in position as soon as we can. But if it's really there…"

That didn't sound good. The other soldiers had mostly cleared the field of wounded or dead, apparently not feeling they had the time to make the distinction, so Teana sat down behind the barricade, closed her eyes, and focused on renewing herself. She hoped she didn't have to do this for long, because she wasn't sure how long she could last…

"_Attention, soldiers of Mid-Childa." _Colonel Sochor announced as 'loudly' as he could over transmission. _"High Command confirms you have accomplished our mission the evac column is one hundred kilometers away and rising, and extraction is on the way, ETA, four minutes!"_

* * *

K3 Magical Energy Accumulation Type Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0756 Hours

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –fii- -fiive- -six- minutes."

Subaru rolled into plant's control room – it was a long way away, about three minutes, but at least there wasn't anything in the way. It was pretty dark inside – she reached to the side for the lights, then realized she was inside a accumulator control room, and thought better of it.

"Mach Caliber, lights please."

"Illuminating." Mach Caliber responded, and the room flooded with blue light. It was a trapezoid shape, with door on the narrow side, and control consoles all along the walls. A man lay slumped up against one of the consoles, and another was lying on the ground in the opposite direction. She activated her life sensor subsystems – the man against the console was already dead, unfortunately – but the other was still living.

Subaru rushed over and knelt beside him – he'd been hit with their ranged weapons at least twice. She didn't know exactly what to do, but he was breathing, for now, so she rolled him onto his side, held her hands over him, and concentrated as intently as she could – she wasn't very good at this kind of magic, but at least she could keep him stable for a while - maybe.

"_Nakajima. Are you inside yet?" _Peel asked over transmission.

"_Yes. There's one person inside here. Do you know how to treat projectile wounds?"_

"_No, but I should be able to stabilize them. For now, our priority has to be the accumulator itself. I'll be there in… about half a minute."_

"_Right. I'll try to keep him stable until you get here."_

"_I'm sorry, Nakajima." _Peel replied bitterly. _"We don't have any time. I need you to find the failsafe… activate that, and it should shut down the station."_

Subaru focused, putting more power into the stabilizing spell - maybe it would at least last a moment, and stood up.

"_Alright, how do I find it?" _She asked.

"_It should be on the central console." Klein replied a few moments later. "I'm not sure, design might be different."_

Subaru went over to the row of consoles on the far side of the room, and activated one, semi-transparent labels appearing over the black surface. She searched for anything that looked like a failsafe control…

There was a sound of twisting metal, and with loud groan, a metal panel fell away from the room's wall, revealing a broken window behind it, and beyond that, the accumulator chamber itself.

"Alert. Control Room containment totally compromised. Hazardous radiation levels in control room area are now -.31 RHL- and –rising-."

Subaru's mouth fell open. She'd seen a dimensional ship's reactor chamber before, and been rather impressed by the sheer scale of it…

This was bigger. The chamber housing it was at least a hundred meters across, and many more deep, and all flooded with rainbow-colored light and a thin mist. In the center was the housing itself, the spherical core shimmering with light and darkness at the same time, an array of mechanisms and gantries surrounding it, a dozen tiny figures standing on them. With the blast door gone, she could feel the energy radiating off it in the air around her.

Subaru swallowed her amazement, and returned to her task – the radiation didn't worry her, it took 5 RHLs to be a serious hazard to humans. Fortunately, it wasn't hard to find the failsafe control, and activated it.

Nothing happened. A message flashed across the console. 'Error: Dissipation system inactive. Grounding mechanism has been damaged.'

"You found it?" Peel said as he entered the room and practically skidded to a halt next to the injured worker.

"Yeah." Subaru replied. "But it won't work."

"What? Why not?" Klein exclaimed, pushing in alongside her. "Grounding… damnation."

"What is it?" One of other officers asked.

"They've disabled the failsafe… and the emergency shutdown. Let me try the purge…"

The gantries inside the chamber retracted from the core… one of the distant figures lost his balance and fell into the pit.

"Yes! It's working…" Klein shouted. "You might want to cover your eyes…"

Nothing happened. One of the figures, obviously an Ork, angrily smashed a nearby console. Nothing continued to happen.

"It's not working." Klein corrected. "They've disabled all our power dissipation options... they must have schematics or something…"

"Is there anything we can do?" Peel asked.

"There's no way they could… they'd just fry themselves…"

"Maybe…" Subaru suggested – it looked like they were needed. "We could go into the chamber."

"There are Orks in there! How did they know what to…"

"Officer Klein!" Peel yelled. "Is there _anything _we can do. Could the blast be contained by an isolation barrier? Or channeled, somehow?"

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in -five- minutes. Alert – Purge Error. Core ejection system destroyed."

The gangplanks began moving back into place as the one Ork continued pounding on his console. Subaru zoomed in on him, as he smiled a yellow toothy grin in satisfaction, - he was wearing rusted metal gauntlets, shoulder pads, and boots, as well as a facemask, and carrying a larger version of the same weapon the other orks had. He walked back over to the core. A human, kneeling on the floor, shouted something at him, only to get backhanded.

"Uh… uh… I dunno about that… maybe?"

"It looks like one of the Orks is working on the core…" Subaru said, as the big Ork looked into a large mechanism he'd opened up.

"Breaking it, most likely. Alright. We need to set up an isolation barrier around this facility. Hopefully-"

"Wait, wait!" Klein interrupted. "There might be a way to stop it. But you'd have to go inside, and manually restart the system…"

"Then that's what we'll do."

Subaru looked around the gangplanks – about three Orks were clustered around their presumed leader, four more guarding a small group of humans, and another three patrolling haphazardly around higher gangplanks. In addition, there were five of the smaller creatures trailing the leader, some carrying machinery of indeterminable purpose.

"But the Orks are in there! And besides, the chamber is absolutely flooded with radiation!"

"There are only nine orks… and if they can survive it, we should be able to as well." Subaru said, zooming out.

"Uh… it says .33 RHL here." An officer – one of the other girls in the group - said.

"That's it?" Peel asked. "Are you sure that's the right display, Taylor?"

"There's another here too, it says… 16.72 RHL"

"Damnation." Peel said, a monitor panel appearing at his wrist. "Well, we have a job to do. Optimize your jackets for high energy EMM radiation."

"Electromagnetic/Magical Radiation filter, set up." Mach Caliber said. "Estimated safe exposure limit, fifteen minutes."

"Well, either we'll be out of there by then, or out of here for good." Officer Taylor said.

"_Possibly as much as twenty for you._" Mach Caliber added privately.

"You know, the people inside have almost certainly received a fatal dose by now." Klein added unhelpfully.

"I don't care." Peel said. "Any idea how we get in there?"

"The window's open." Subaru said, focusing on shaping her energy. "Wing-"

"No!" Klein yelled.

"Huh?" Subaru asked.

"It's an **accumulation** reactor." He said, his tone annoyed. "It **accumulates** magical energy from the surrounding area. Inside that shield, any magical construct would only last… seconds at best, before all the power was drawn away."

"Okay… so how do we get in there."

"They'll probably have blocked the main maintenance access, but there'll be a second access in this room… a ladder leading down to the main level. So sorry. Looks like you'll have to stay with me."

"You're going with us." Peel said.

"But if I die, who will tell you how to shut it down?" Klein replied.

"We'll figure it out. In the meantime, I suggest you avoid dying." Peel said, looking as if he would have liked to toss him out the window right then.

"But…" He continued, looking down at Subaru's feet. "He might be right…"

"Don't worry." She replied quickly, and almost cheerful – someone had thought about this situation before.

"Roller Inactive Mode, set up." Mach Caliber said, and the wheels along the bottom vanished in a flash of light. It would certainly limit her speed, and how much Mach Caliber could help her, but at least she could get down the stairs.

"Good enough. Let's get this done."

* * *

Sunset Gardens Commercial Park, City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0800 Hours

The ambulance finally halted about three minutes later, and two new medics opened the rear doors. One waved a scanner at Fate while the other helped the aerial forces officer out.

The scanner wielding medic grabbed Fate's wrist and pressed the bottom of his scanner against the back of her hand.

"Alright, come on out." He said. "And don't run off."

Fate complied, and found that the ambulance was sitting in a parking lot next to a large, flat building that could only be a shopping mall. The medic promptly devoted his attention to moving the stretchers out of the ambulance, leaving her alone. Fate looked at back of her hand – there was no visible mark there, but presumably it had done something…

"Ultraviolet stamp. Triage Code 3." Bardiche explained.

"What does that mean?"

"Low numbers, good condition."

"I see."

The Special Rescue service had set up a field hospital here, and there had to be about three hundred people laid out on the padding surrounding the central building – a general use auto-assembly model, from the looks of it. Further away, a group of officers spoke with each other behind a ring of armed guards and a glittering area barrier. It looked like the control center for this place, wherever it was, so she headed that way.

"What did you do, drive through an oven?" A man – police, from his appearance – asked no one in particular, indicating the back of the ambulance Fate had rode in on.

It did indeed look distinctly like it had – the paint had clearly bubbled and warped in the heat, and was even scorched in some places… Fate wondered how kinds of weapons the Krieg had, anyways. If they still had their officer prisoner, he might be more helpful, but she was doubtful he would be even as cooperative as their other prisoner…

Although… they did have their telepaths. With all respect to Inspector Acouss, active telepathy was kind of creepy, which was why they were only used in the most desperate situations. Even so, it was no guarantee…

That uncomfortable line of thought was mercifully interrupted by a flash of recognition. Fate was now close enough to get a good look at the officers in the circle, and thought she saw her brother in a videopathic monitor.

She had – Admiral Chrono Harlown was her brother by adoption, not actually related to her, of course, but they remained close. One of the officers in the circle noticed her approach, and signaled to the guards to let her pass.

"Chrono!" Fate exclaimed, static buzzing across her body as she they let her through the barrier.

"_Fate, good to see you're okay." _Chrono replied. _"Major Farrell was worried you might be dead."_

"I'm not. But… what's going on here?"

"_We're getting out of here, that's what's going on." _Colonel Sochor said over another nearby videopathic monitor. _"The convoy is clear now… I just told our forces."_

"Is the headquarters?" Fate asked. "What happened to the 18th's building?"

"Shell penetrated the command room. Killed Captain Merlo, Major Colvert, half a dozen others, and set the whole building on fire." The commander of the 200th Ground explained.

"Officer Nolan too." A feline familiar standing off to the side commented, a few officers glaring back at her in response.

"_Yes, from the third permanent. We'd better recall them."_ The colonel said.

"It looks like we're almost all here." One of the other ground forces officers said.

"_Capital Defense is calling me things normally reserved for malfunctioning appliances." _Chrono said. _"But I can stay on station as long you can hold out…"_

"Let's try rerouting a few to this area. I think with the public park, you should have enough space."

"_Hmm… it could work. I've got Ferdinand." _Colonel Sochor said

Captain Ferdinand of the Third Permanent Striker Section appeared just behind Fate, the image of a hard-edged looking sandy haired man in a grey custom Jacket distorted by static.

"_Colonel, g'day …. We have c-c-confirmed … on the enemy jammer." _The image shifted away from him to show what looked vaguely like a row of heavily modified Type I armor types, although the image was just as unclear. _"As well as … platform. Heavy neutrino… we're down … members. Have a … shot, repeat a clear sh… we are tak-"_

"_Negative, captain." _Sochor said. _"You are to get out, or exfiltrate, or whatever you say, immediately."_

"_Sorry, Colonel. … was unclear. Contact, forty … right"_ A laser bolt zipped past the video display. _"May be able to … warheads. Should … ahead?"_

"_NO! You are to fall back immediately!"_

"_We're already ...ed! I can … complete. Let's … this, and get … Others … or die, we do. Cindy. I'm … Sorry."_

At that, the transmission cut off.

"_Strikers…"_ Colonel Sochor muttered. _"Admiral, I don't think we have time. I think they're getting ready for another assault, they have something big… I can't tell, there's… there's too much jamming."_

The Survey View choose that moment to refresh itself, revealing dozens more Krieg contacts – a veritable sea. As well as a single gold mark in the midst of them. Red dots vanished around it as it moved away.

"_Damnit, I don't know what killed the jammers." _An officer spoke. _"But there's a hundred armor types headed our way._"

That was probably true too – the survey view was indicating a swarm of contacts moving in from the southwest of the central highway. Back in the Krieg base, the gold icon flickered to grey.

"Well… sh-" The familiar in back started to say, then just… dissolved… into thin air.

"_Damn Strikers."_ Colonel Sochor repeated.

" _I'm on my way in._" Chrono said. _"Get your to landing zones, _Claudia _will cover you."_

"You're going to attack from orbit?" Fate asked – it didn't seem like the kind of thing he'd do… and could kill everyone.

"_Not exactly." _Chrono replied. _"My squadron will provide extraction._"

"Your squadron…" Fate said, wondering aloud. "I think I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy."

Chrono just smiled.

"I think I like it."


	5. Chapter 3: First Battles, Part 2

Grand Central Highway, City of Feine

Central Mid Childa, approximately 305 kilometers west of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0801 Hours

Unsurprisingly, the Colonel's announcement caused a lot of excitement. For her own part, Teana was pretty eager to leave, and she hadn't been here for nearly as long as most of the soldiers. All the seriously wounded had been sent to the back, close to where their extraction was supposed to land. The first defensive line had been abandoned, and the second had only a small force, in favor of concentrating forces on the third line, where she was now waiting.

It had been a little over a minute since then. Teana was wondering how, exactly, they'd be getting out, and couldn't figure it out. Transferring them all out would be all but impossible, so that meant that they must have found helicopter or truck pilots crazy enough to pick them up. It was probably going to be the most dangerous part of the battle… but at least it would be over afterwards.

That thought had come out a little grimmer than she'd intended, Teana thought. She'd been through worse, probably. And it was entirely possible they'd get out before the next attack...

Speaking of which, the smoke that had cloaked the battlefield was beginning to clear, and Teana could now see the dark outline of a building behind a curve in the highway – she thought she saw what might be Krieg soldiers in the fog, but she couldn't be sure.

"_Teana." _Fate's voice whispered, just as Teana was wondering where she was. _"Are you still alright?_"

"_Yeah." _Teana replied. _"I'm fine. I'm at the highway line…"_

"_That's what I heard too. I'm at the… ah… Sunset Gardens Commercial park, along with most of the command staff."_

"_What's it like up there?" _Teana asked.

"_Terrible… there's a field hospital here, too and…"_

"_I see. It's the same here."_

"_Hold on." Fate said "There's some activity... it looks like they've spotted Chrono…"_

"_Chrono? Your brother?" _Teana asked. _"But what would he… wait, I think I see something."_

For a moment, it had looked like the smog-cloaked building in the distance had moved. Then, a shriek echoed through the city, a bombardment weapon exploded just in front of the second line, and all thoughts of moving buildings were driven from her mind. Another blast followed that one, closer to her, and a dozen more closer than that. Other shells pierced through the road to explode in the lower tier beneath

Teana ducked behind her barricade as the explosions crept closer. It wasn't a matter of cowardice, there was just nothing she could do about it. Her barrier jacket could probably sustain it… provided one didn't hit too close.

"_Teana?" _Fate inquired.

"_They're attacking us now, with their bombardment attacks!" _Another attack rumbled through the elevated road. _"It feels like they're going to shake the highway apart!"_

"_Do you need my help?" _Fate asked.

"_You'll never get here in time anyways.""_

Teana suddenly heard the crackling of impacts against a barrier, and looked up to see two more blasts slam into a dark violet halo of energy overhead – a wide, angled plane covering the front line against the arc of the bombardment attacks.

"ARMED FORCES!" Colonel Sochor shouted, his device glowing brightly as he held it above him. "HOLD ONE LAST TIME!"

It was impressive magic, to say the least. On any normal day, it would be the most impossible thing Teana saw all day. It wasn't. The building she'd seen earlier emerged from the thinning smoke, and she realized it wasn't a building at all. It was the front of an armor-type vehicle. A big one. It had to tower four or five meters, and was easily ten wide, and who knew how long. It resembled the Type I's, scaled up, with the top half cut off, and a huge… snowplow on its front At the back, it had a second deck, solid in the center but open on the sides, with a pair of weapon barrels pointing from each side, and two pairs of immense caterpillar treads on each side grinding the road beneath it as it steadily rolled forward.

A few of the soldiers on the defense line fled the moment it appeared out of the cloud, but most held their ground, charging counterattacks.

Teana aimed Cross Mirage at the vehicle and gathered her energy too – unlike the previous one, there was no clear weak spot on this vehicle, but she might do something.

"Phantom... Blazer!" Teana shouted, and the sphere of energy she had assembled blasted into a bright orange beam, crashing into the front of the armor-type, along with a dozen other beams. When the brilliance of the barrage faded, the vehicle's armor was scorched and dented… but intact.

"_First line, fall back!" _Captain Relin ordered.

The two turrets opened fire, spitting bright flashes of light from the barrel - although no visible beams - and the rest of the defenders fled the first line just as the vehicle rolled over the barricade, crushing titanium and carbon nanofiber like it was brittle wood.

Teana could now see a wave of Krieg infantry advancing behind their vehicle – she could hurt them, at least, so she quickly focused on them, dropping one with a barrage of four shots, then firing twice at another, before ducking behind the barricade as they began to return fire.

"Focus on the infantry!" Colonel Sochor shouted, half over transmission, half audible. "The armor-type is trying to distract you!"

Teana shut her eyes and focused her will, summoning eight orbs alongside her, stood up, and spun.

"Crossfire Shoot." Cross Mirage said for her, and each orb streaked off towards a separate target. Teana adjusted her aim rightwards, and gathered everything she could muster…

"PHANTOM BLAZER!"

The beam struck out against the left hull of the huge armor-type, scoring a gouge along its side…

"Damn it!" Teana swore, ducking back down as dozens of impacts erupted around her. She reached over the barricade and fired three shots blindly, probably not hitting anything. The soldier next to her fell, struck by what had to be half a dozen lasers.

A moment later, a series of explosions erupted across the second defensive line, tiny fragments pounding against the ground and defenders alike. Teana was on the edge of the blast, but a few pieces impacted against her barrier jacket, one bruising her side through sheer kinetic energy. Many other ground forces soldiers weren't so lucky, and fell wounded or dead.

"_Second line, fall back!" _Captain Relin ordered. _"Fall back now!"_

The second line duly broke ranks and sprinted for the third row of barricades. Teana grabbed a wounded ground forces soldier nearby and slung her over her shoulder – with some effort, she wasn't that strong – charged energy into her body, and leapt for the back, arcing some forty meters distant, and then ran the rest of the way as fast as she could, lasers cracking around her and deflecting off her back.

When she reached the third line, the Krieg soldiers following after their war machine were clambering over the ruins of the second barricade, and the armor-type was still pressing onwards. Teana set down the soldier she was carrying, and fired a pair of shots randomly before crouching down out of the line of fire.

Colonel Sochor stood a few meters back from the barricade, and swung his device from right to left, sending a hail of violet bolts towards the enemy.

"_Teana, are you alright?!" _Fate transmitted. _"Krieg are everywhere."_

Teana stood over the barricade and opened fire, dropping one soldier, then another as they closed in, their blades glittering in the sun.

"_No, really!?" _Teana replied, and shot at another soldier. She must have defeated twenty, at least, and they certainly wouldn't recover _that _quickly… how many did they have?

"_Sorry. They're here too. I can't leave if I wanted… but evac is nearly-"_

Bright light flashed across Teana's eyes as a laser struck her right cheek, leaving it stinging. Obviously it didn't penetrate, or she'd be dead, but it stung like hell, and she fell sprawling to the ground.

"Barrier Jacket Integrity, Thirty-Eight Percent" Cross Mirage said.

Dangerously low, but she didn't really have time to spend restoring it. Cross Mirage had fallen a few decimeters from her grip, so she quickly retrieved it, and pushed herself up, her left arm aching.

The massive vehicle was now 50 meters or so away, and closing at around ten KPH or so. The tide of Krieg soldiers behind it had thinned, but there were still quite a few of them.

"Fourth line group, forward!" the Colonel shouted. "Everyone, this is where we stop them. Concentrate your fire on that window, center of the second deck!"

Ah. A weakness. The window was small, barely more than a slit, and all the way at the back. It wouldn't be easy to hit…

"Aim Lock" Teana shouted, the reticule appearing over her eye again. She detached her current cartridge, which was about a quarter full, and replaced it with a new one.

"Phantom Blazer!"

Her attack was only one of ten or so – she couldn't really tell if she hit something, but when the light faded, the window was white and dented. The vehicle turned slightly to her right, then back, and then stopped, about twenty meters from the line.

"Got 'em!" Someone shouted. Teana took aim at one of the approaching soldiers, fired a few shots, and ducked under the barricade as more Ground Forces soldiers were running up from the back

A loud, grinding screech sounded out from the machine. Teana looked up, and saw the plow on front lifting up into the air. There were only a dozen or so Krieg soldiers remaining on the left of the vehicle, at least, but they had caught up with it now, and were still charging full sprint.

"Two hand mode." Teana said. It looked like they were trying to get up close again, and who knew what the armor-type was doing. "Right Hand dagger mode."

"Are you sure?" Cross Mirage asked.

"I know… but I'll need the extra weapon." Teana replied.

"Understood." Cross Mirage said, and the second pistol materialized in her left hand as her right hand pistol expanded into dagger form.

"MEN OF KRIEG!" A voice screamed out, tinged with the distinct timbre of autotranslation. "PURGE THIS WITCH SCUM! DEATH!" The plow stopped rising, held nearly flat in the air, and the door behind it fell downwards, revealing the speaker – a man standing at the front of the armor-type, surrounded by a dozen or so hooded… giants. "DEATH!"

They all charged forwards the moment the ramp touched the ground, the man in the center lowering a pistol.

"STAND FAST!" Colonel Sochor shouted "SHOOT!"

Teana didn't really need to be told – she had already taken aim at the normal sized human at the front, and immediately steadied her left arm as best she could, and fired twice.

Both bolts shattered against a barrier just before they struck home. That was new.

Everyone else had opened fire at roughly the same time. The giants, big, ugly, hulking things about three meters tall, fired their proportionately large guns almost frenziedly, huge flares booming from their muzzles.

A dozen craters blasted in the mobile barricade in front of Teana – her barrier jacket blocked all of the projectiles, but it still felt like someone had punched her in the shoulder, and she stumbled backwards as the giant that had shot her charged on, roaring incoherently.

"Damn it!" Teana swore again, firing four, maybe five shots at the onrushing giant – a few more bolts from other people striking too. It barely flinched. "Damn it!"

She dodged down and away as it vaulted the barricade, and another shot from its big gun flew over her head.

That still left it right in front of her. It roared and pulled its weapon back, like a giant club – which was probably exactly what it had in mind. Teana had only a moment, but she made the most of it, stepping close in and jamming Cross Mirage's dagger into its chest with all her might.

It grunted, looked down at the glowing weapon stuck in its immense bulk, and swung.

The blow caught Teana in the chest and sent her flying backwards, and likewise flung away three soldiers that had been nearby. She landed on her back about three meters away, immediately sat up, pain and ache shooting through her ribs as she did, and shook her head, dizzied by the blow.

"Barrier Jacket Integrity Critical!" Cross Mirage warned.

'_I know that!'_ Teana thought to herself as she raised her pistol and fired wildly – The giant soaked up those shots as easily as the others, and lowered its weapon back into a shooting stance – at least it wasn't bladed, like the others.

Damn it.

Runes glittered at the left edge of Teana's clouded vision, and a moment later, an emerald green beam about the size of her head lanced out from behind and struck the giant on his right cheek.

It jerked to the side, turned its head to the sky, and bellowed in rage.

"DEFENSER!" Teana shouted, blocking out the pain in her chest as she drew up power to protect herself, as it lowered its weapon again and fired. A dozen separate shells impacted against the barrier, flashing bright orange for an instant. She lowered the barrier, centered her sights on the giant's huge chest, and summoned everything she had left…

"PHANTOM BLAZER!"

The beam struck the center of the creature and then went on through it, catching its gun in the bargain.

The giant roared again, not quite as loud this time, dropped the crumbling remains of its disintegrated weapon. A Krieg soldier – Teana had barely noticed the giants had been followed by a wave of normal soldiers – toppled over behind it, his armor and coat burned away and naked chest scorched red.

The giant stumbled forward, meaty fists raised – another green beam flashed from behind her, struck it in the shoulder, and it finally collapsed.

The Krieg soldier that had been hit wasn't the only one, and one of them had taken immediate notice of Teana – he turned and sprinted towards her, firing twice over her shoulder as he ran. Teana fired a shot back at him, but it was deflected off his chest armor.

The soldier ran up to her, still on the ground, screamed a battlecry, and stabbed down with his bayonet.

Teana couldn't bring up any defense in time, and felt a sharp pain low on her chest as his blade pierced her barrier jacket – and her.

"I don't fracking think so." She said, and jammed her dagger through the eyepiece of his mask.

He immediately went limp and fell to the ground, his rifle clattering to the ground beside him.

Teana pressed a hand to her bleeding side – fortunately, no one was actively trying to kill her among the ongoing melee right now, that she could see. The Ground Forces soldier (presumably) behind her wrapped an arm underneath hers. Another jolt of pain shot through her body as she was lifted…

"Thanks..." She said.

The Krieg man who had stood at the front of the armor-type emerged from the crowd, backhanding a Ground Forces soldier out of the way – and nearly ripping off her head in doing so. His uniform was decorated with gold tassel and trim – definitely an officer, and on his right hand, he wore a massive gauntlet, marked with a gold skull and with two cables trailing to a pack on his back.

"Thank me when-" A man's voice replied.

The officer raised the pistol in his left hand, fired a solid beam of light, rather than a flash, for a fraction of second, and the man holding her let go.

Teana fell to the ground, and immediately tried to push herself up. It hurt, but she made it to her knees…

The officer kicked her in the side of the face, and she immediately rolled back to the ground, her head reeling and Cross Mirage flying off somewhere. He flexed his fingers, and energy crackled over the surface of his gauntleted fist as he drew it back…

The Krieg soldiers around him suddenly began looking up to the sky, some firing their weapons into the air, as a roar of air gradually grew over the sound of the fight.

The officer looked up too, and staggered back.

"Throne of Terra!" He exclaimed. Most of the Krieg soldiers were backing away – slowly at first, then some actually ran.

Teana reached out for either one of Cross Mirage pistols – no luck. The officer didn't notice her scrabbling – he was busy looking up too. Teana looked up and to the right…

A shaft of brilliant light pierced the air, its roar drowning out all sound and its light burning away all vision.

When it faded, Teana looked up to see a pair of gleaming white spire spread across the sky… after a moment's confusion, she realized what it was.

The barrel of a buster cannon. Or something like that, anyways. She traced it back – to the ship it was attached to, hovering over the highway, bay doors opening along the front of the hull, then glanced back at the giant Krieg vehicle. The top of its hull had been thoroughly scorched and melted, presumably by the light – obviously a bombardment beam – from before.

"And that was point defense gun!" A woman's voice shouted over a loudspeaker. "FLEET TROOPERS! LET'S BLOW THESE BASTARDS OUT!"

A flurry of small bolts rippled over the highway, striking Krieg soldiers left and right. The officer still standing over Teana was hit by at least eight, and he reeled back as his barrier glowed under the impact.

"Everyone, onboard, now!" Colonel Sochor shouted.

Teana took her opportunity and rolled to her right side, picked up Cross Mirage from where it was lying on the ground, and got to her feet, her chest searing with pain the whole time.

The ship was hovering a little bit over the highway, nearly spanning the whole forty-meter-or-so wide roadway, about thirty meters away. Dozens of black-uniformed fleet troopers fired from the open loading bay, along with a pair of automated turrets at the bottom of the buster cannon prongs.

"One Hand Mode." Cross Mirage said. "Let's go!"

"You don't need to tell me that!" Teana replied, and ran for the ship without looking back, pressing her other hand over her stinging chest. Bombardment attacks streaked toward the immense ship, only to bounce off its barrier with a brilliant flash inches before they impacted. After a short but very painful and very tense run, she reached the ramp and climbed up into the ship, along with dozens of other Ground Forces soldiers.

Two or three sections urgently filed into the room – judging from the crates, it looked like it was probably a cargo bay. The Krieg soldiers had finally given up, and incredibly, were backing away, but the bombardment attacks were more intense than ever now. The huge armor-type was gone, a giant hole bored through the highway where it had been.

Teana moved aside and rested against one of the walls, looking down at herself. She'd been hit a few centimeters over her right hip, and that part of her jacket was dark with blood… but it couldn't be too deep, so she'd probably be fine. The doctors were almost certainly busy with more serious cases right now, so she just pressed her hand against the wound and tried to catch her breath.

"Alright! That's the last in this area!" Colonel Sochor shouted, climbing aboard from his position at the edge of the ramp.

The loading ramp quickly retracted, and the bay doors closed in from each side. The pilot didn't wait for them to fully close before the ship lifted off and turned around. Another ship zoomed past, chased by a dozen glowing lights.

"_Teana?" _Fate suddenly transmitted. _"Are you alright?"_

"_Yeah…"_ Teana replied. _"Cut pretty close, and I got hurt a little, but I'm alright. Nice extraction, huh?"_

The ship shook as something or other impacted it. The doors were nearly closed, and the crowd blocked out any good view out of the small cargo bay window. They started moving forward the moment the doors fully closed, pulling away from the city.

"_That's good." _Fate responded, after a moment. _"I suppose it was risky, but…"_

The ship veered upwards, and everyone shifted dizzily as the artificial gravity compensated for the natural gravity. Apparently the captain had decided breaking for orbit would be quicker, since they wouldn't have to worry about drag as much.

"_Well, it worked, I guess."_

"_Okay. We're going to get off at COS..." _Fate replied, her sigh nearly audible._ "I'll see you at the hospital there, I suppose."_

The roar of wind fell to a whisper, then silence, as the vessel streaked out into the void, leaving the battlefield far behind. Technically, they had won, Teana supposed, but it didn't feel like it. She took a deep breath, and another shock of pain ran through her body. She pressed harder where she'd been hit, just in case. She needed time to rest - and some painkillers – first. Then… she'd have to get ready for the next battle. She was **not** going to be defeated again.

K3 Magical Energy Accumulation Type Power Station

Central Mid Childa, 401 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0759 Hours

Subaru jumped off the ladder about a meter from the bottom, mostly because she could, and landed in a crouch next to Chief Peel.

"I see someone's recovered her spirits." Klein said.

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in -four- minutes." The voice said.

Subaru looked around – the Orks hadn't noticed them yet – apparently the window they were standing behind was one sided, or something. The leader was on the level just below them, right next to the core, three patrolled above, and two of them were guarding hostages in a side room on the same level, in a chamber off to the side.

"Alright… we need to defeat the orks, and reach the central platform as quickly as possible." Peel said. "My tactical experience is limited to _Stryker Tactical Attack Command 3,_ so if anyone has any ideas…"

Subaru noticed he was looking directly at her as he said this, and quickly tried to think of an appropriate answer… no luck.

"Uh… I think… the ones up top could shoot us as we try to reach the center…" She finally said.

"That's what I was thinking." Peel said, unsnapping the silver rod he always carried from a strap around his shoulder. It flashed with light, and jacket suddenly turned white, his eyes glowed, and his hair turned from dark brown to light brown…

"Whoa!" One of the officers exclaimed. "You have a unison device?!"

"Aren't those really rare?" Taylor said.

"Yes." Peel replied offhandedly, putting the unison device away, and aiming his conventional device towards one of the patrolling Orks.

Subaru had heard of unison devices, since her primary cyborg systems worked on the same basic concept, but she'd never actually seen one. They were somewhat like a cartridge applied directly to the user, infusing a steady stream of energy and otherwise assisting in casting spells. At least if she remembered correctly.

Two of the patrollers passed by each other up above.

"Now." Peel said, pushing through the door into the chamber. "Cutter bind!"

An arc of sparkling gold closed just to the side of the Orks. They noticed that, at least, and immediately started firing back, sparks of impact bouncing against the framework of the gantry.

"You missed!" Klein shouted.

"Let's go!" Subaru yelled, ignoring him and running out after the chief. Unfortunately, the walkways were metal lace, so she still couldn't use her skates very easily. The Orks guarding the hostages had heard as well, and charged out onto the walkway.

Then a sharp snap echoed from the overhead gantry, and it screeched with stress for a moment, before the section holding the two orks collapsed, sending them hurtling into the pit.

"Destroy these scumbags!" The other man Subaru didn't know shouted from behind her. "For Millian, for Esther, Scott, and all the precinct!"

"Cutler, with me!" Peel shouted, "The rest of you, get to the core!"

A shout of 'WAAAGGH!!' cut through the steady whirr of the accumulator, as the orks by the core headed out towards the stairs that connected the middle and lower gantries, firing up at them. As the rest of the group headed to meet them, Subaru climbed over the railing, and leapt for the lower walkway, almost a meter away and five meters below.

She was already in midair when it struck her what she'd just done, but fortunately, she didn't miss, landing near the center of the walkway, her momentum carrying her forward into the railing.

The Orks noticed that. Two of them turned and charged towards her, roaring incoherently.

Subaru yelled right back, and ran towards the pair, ignoring the impact of shells against her jacket. She drew her right hand into a fist, darted past the warrior's axe, and swung an uppercut into his jaw.

The Ork staggered a bit, but remained standing. Subaru stepped back as he bellowed in rage, and shifted aside as his partner swung down his sword.

"LOAD CARTRIDGE!" Subaru shouted, a pair of cartridges detonating in response, and rammed her Revolver knuckle into the second Ork's lower torso. The huge creature groaned, and slowly collapsed to his knees, falling over entirely only as Subaru struck the back of his muscled neck with the edge of her left hand.

"SHOOT!! SMASH! CHOP!" One of the Orks shouted overhead, as the Ork with the axe raised his pistol and fired a couple of shots at her, but neither hit. Subaru swept her right leg forward and up into the gun just as he fired again – the projectile skipped off the barrier along Subaru's hip, but the Ork loosed his grip on the pistol, firing one last wild shot as it dropped into the ork snarled as it grabbed for her leg as snapped she snapped it back, leaving him in a half crouch. Subaru slammed her balled fist on the roof his skull, and heard the clink of metal hitting metal – for some reason, he had a metal plate on his head – or rather, in his head. He barely noticed the blow, and he swung down his axe, the blow skittering against Subaru's barrier jacket and slamming into the gantry just centimeter from her foot.

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –three – minutes."

Subaru slammed her heel into the Ork's face as he tried to retrieve his weapon from the metal mesh, and he stopped – collapsing with a 'thunk'.

That left a clear path to the core.

Subaru sprinted for the ring around the core. She didn't actually know what she'd do once she got there, but she'd figure that out afterwards.

A group of the smaller creatures scattered as she approached, running off over the gangplank or leaping onto the containment generators around the core. There were a few control panels and such, but half of them had been disassembled… she looked around for anything that said 'off'. No such luck. Subaru turned back – the rest of the group was tied up fighting a cluster of Orks – it looked like the Orks were winning, but maybe she could flank them.

"Oi, get away from my glowy thingy!" One of the Orks suddenly shouted, breaking off from the rest of the group and heading towards the stairs – and her. Subaru quickly shifted into a defensive stance, as it brought a large, crude rifle to bear.

"Shell Protection!" Subaru shouted, opening her left palm, and focusing her energy to the barrier – the reactor pulled on the corona of energy, both magically and physically, and she had to struggle to keep her footing as the first few projectiles impacted against the glittering barrier. Fortunately, although the sudden jerk had surprised her, she could easily stay stable now that she knew about it, and focused her will against the barrage of bullets as the creature walked down the stairs.

"DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!" The Ork shouted as he reached the lower level, swinging its weapon wildly and firing into the air. Subaru saw an opportunity, and dropped her barrier and ran out to meet him. The Ork warrior leveled his weapon, one handed, and a smoking projectile spiraled out from below the barrel.

"Whoa!" Subaru exclaimed, as she dodged to the left – she wasn't sure if it was her movement or his bad aim, but it slammed into one of the containment frames, whereupon it tore off, fell into the core, and vaporized.

"QUIT MOVIN!" The ork shouted, and quickly resumed firing bullets. Subaru didn't stop moving, though, and sidestepped closer and swung a wide hook at him. The Ork quickly raised his left arm and blocked it. Something scraped against Subaru's barrier jacket as she withdrew her punch, and she saw that he had a large saw attached to his hand – no, replacing his left hand, with a crude mechanical grasper along the side for fingers.

Subaru ducked underneath as he swung his gun across like a sword, still firing; and rose up with an uppercut striking the Ork in the jaw. He grunted, one of his massive yellow teeth broke, but he seemed only mildly annoyed, and swung his saw hand low from the right. Subaru shifted back, not quite quick enough, and it rippled across the front of her jacket – and skin.

She looked down, and saw blood – just a trickle, but… the Ork swung his saw back to the other side, missing another hit by inches. Subaru quickly spun around and drove the heel of her foot into his chest, and even the massive Ork stumbled half a meter backwards. He immediately aimed his gun in her general direction…

Just how tough was this guy, anyways? She braced herself and raised another barrier as he opened fire, again, spraying her shield with bullets. Subaru held the barrier as the reactor tried to pull it away from her, and the barrage slammed against her body and soul as the Ork backed away – that was new. She still had plenty of energy, though, and cartridges. He must have a limit to how many shots he could fire, but she wasn't sure she could sustain the barrier that long…

Her jacket would have to do. She surged forward, shifting her energy and concentration to gather around her right fist, and expended a cartridge as she swung her fist forward.

"REVOLVER! CANNON!" she shouted, her punch landing in the center of the Ork's chest, and immediately spun backwards, her backfist missing by a decimeter or so as he stumbled back. Subaru kicked just to the right of his head, and hooked her leg back, striking him on the back of the head, and shoving him down into the railing.

"Ha! I'm still stronger than you guys!" Subaru shouted, as the Ork reeled – dizzy, but not defeated, as he aimed his rifle at her again…

A golden streak of light slammed into his back – followed by another. The Ork dropped his rifle, and slowly turned, growling... then about half a dozen struck his front, and he jerked back, and slumped against the banister.

"Tough little bugs." Chief Peel said from up above, lowering his device. "Taylor, help Herrara. Cutler, get the hostages – get them out of here, both of you! Everyone else, core! Now!"Subaru obeyed immediately, running back towards the core, as the other three – Peel, Klein, and one other - came down the stairs after her, scooting out of the way as Klein took his place at one of the control panels.

Everyone flinched out of the way as the core emitted a shower of brightly glowing… Subaru thought they were just sparks, until she saw one splatter on the walkway like liquid, centimeters from her right boot – and promptly melt through the metal grid.

"This would be a great time to shut this thing down." Peel said, voicing Subaru's thoughts.

"I'm working on it." Klein replied. "It's like these guys just took a hammer to half these controls… but… I think I can do it…"

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –two – minutes."

"Do it quickly!" The other rescue officer yelled.

"I can't just press at random…" Klein said, moving to another panel. "If I activate the wrong thing… it could blow us all up!"

"It'll blow us up if we don't do something!" Subaru said, rapidly tapping her fingers against a the railing. She didn't like standing around.

"Alright, alright, I know it!" Klein snapped back. "I'll shut off the power accumulation grid… that should buy us some time."

Most the energy paths running around the room faded away – but the pulsating core showed no signs of diminishing.

"How much time are we talking about?" Peel asked.

"Two minutes, ten seconds. Approximately." Cross Mirage said. "The core has reached critical mass."

"That's not much more time…" Subaru replied. "But I guess it's better…"

"Yes, now shut up, I need to concentrate… purge, purge, purge… red button, it should be…" Klein continued. "Here… damn it! Here we go…"

Sparks flashed all around the massive chamber, fragments of metal fell into the pit and green colored steam billowed from the walls.

"Energy is not decreasing." Mach Caliber reported.

"Why isn't the energy decreasing?" Peel asked.

"Uh… it looks like they broke the power conduits leading to the dissipater." Klein said "Activate the cage! Red turn switch… it's somewhere around here."

Subaru searched around for anything that matched the description. Nothing on the console behind her, or around her... nothing at all! She squeezed down on one of the metal guard rails in frustration, crumpling the metal underneath her fingers.

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –two – minutes."

"Got it!" The awkwardly nameless third Rescue Officer said, adjusting something on the console behind him. With a strained whirr, the three massive containment cage mechanisms began to descend, patterns of runes materialized among the dozens of rods running between the frames – except for the one, which had been damaged in the fighting before. There, only a few feeble sparks fell from the ruins of the generator.

"Ah, not good." Klein said, observing the broken cage as it rotated past. "Well, it'll delay things a bit, I hope… damnit, think…"

"Alright." Peel asked. "What about those broken power conduits? Could we repair them?"

"Oh sure!" Klein shouted back. "Just give me three hours, a team of engineers, heavy equipment and a bunch of fiber cable!"

"Could we… move the generator?" The officer Subaru didn't know asked.

"Move the generator? Are you insane? It'd lose containment immediately, and plasma would go everywhere!"

"Err… is that the same thing as an overload?" Subaru asked.

"Well, no, not exactly. It'd release its energy over a minute or so… still send a flood of energy into this chamber, and eventually it would break through, fry the whole assembly and spread EMM across the whole region."

"It would be a smaller blast radius though…" Peel noted.

"More of a plume than an explosion." Klein replied. "But after we move it, we'd have… fifteen, twenty seconds before it explodes and we'd still all die!"

"I'll worry about that later." Peel said. "We might be able to get a transfer out… how do we do this?"

"We don't." Klein said. "Even if we go with this insane plan, we don't have anything to move the core."

There weren't any cranes or anything in the room… but the core itself, suspended in the middle of the room… something had to be holding it up, Subaru thought. Beneath it, a wide, glowing, disc of magical light glittered above three prongs on a tall tower leading into the pit.

"Wait!" Subaru shouted. "Isn't the core suspended by the levitation field there?"

"The core is pure energy – no mass." Klein snapped back. "That just supports the containment field, keeps it steady."

"But it can be moved? How?"

"The cage isolates it. It'll move with the cage…"

"So… if the cage were to drop…"

"The core would drop with it. Provided it didn't break through that giant hole in the side."

"Alright." Peel said. "So we need to find some way to disconnect the core."

"If we disabled the containment amplifier below, and destroyed the overhead support, it might just work. But still, we'd all die."

"We'll worry about that later. For now… anyone have more D-Cartridges?"

"I didn't get another after I used mine…" Subaru replied.

"I have one." The nameless officer said.

"I brought two."

"I suppose I still have mine." Klein added.

"We'll, I'll send a transmission to Taylor. Her and Herrara's cartridges make 6, that should be enough. Any ideas how we tackle this, Klein?"

"Well, we blast the post up top, and each of those prongs at the bottom. Now, all we need is someone crazy enough to jump down there!"

"Right." Subaru said. "How do I do it?"

"Well…" Klein responded, holding out his D-Cartridge. "Don't touch the rune circle down there. With that much energy, the cast-off could probably…"

"Yeah…" Subaru replied, taking the cartridge. That much energy – she probably wouldn't survive if she touched it, so she had to find a way around. The field was a disk, so she'd have to go around the edge… "I'm ready."

Peel exhaled and looked up at the support above as he took two D-Cartridges from a carrying pouch, and gave them to her. Subaru didn't have a satchel right now, so she clipped them to her belt instead – a little uncomfortable, but she had bigger things to worry about.

She had a plan to get where she needed to be. If it didn't work, of course, she'd either be dis… -it was going to work. Subaru told her plan to Mach Caliber, stepped back a bit, took a running start, and leapt over the outside railing. She passed over the outer edge of the array disk, barely, and fell past.

"Wing Road!" Mach Caliber announced, and a shimmering field of solid force appeared a few decimeters beneath Subaru's feet – it would only last a few moments, but that was all that was needed - she quickly pushed off, turning in midair as she coasted towards the bottom support of the reactor.

She reached out for the lower edge of the 'platform' beneath the core, and almost got it. Almost. She slammed into the central column, began to slide downwards. She scrambled for a grip as she fell – and grasped hold of a tube in her right hand, which promptly jerked down and snapped off at the top under her weight.

Subaru desperately clung to the metal-clad hose, and barely managed to keep hold as cold water sprayed over her, thoroughly soaking her. She grabbed the flex-poly tube with her other hand, and scrabbled for footing. There wasn't any.

"Assault Grip!" Subaru shouted, forming her energy into a kind of magnetic attraction between her boots and the pillar. She could feel the magic being pulled away, but it gave her the footing she needed long enough to push herself up enough to grab hold of a notch about half a meter above her.

"Nakajima, are you alright?" Peel shouted down from above.

She shifted right, out of the spray of water… or maybe it was some other coolant – in any case, she was still wet, but at least it wasn't falling all over her - and looked for something else to grab onto.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just need to find a way back up now!" Subaru shouted back. Fortunately, there were a fair number of gaps and notches in the pillar for her to climb – of course megawatts of energy could be running through any one of them, but things couldn't be perfect. She reached her left hand towards a small conduit above her, stepped onto the bottom housing of the pipe, and pulled herself up.

""Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –one – minute and – thirty – seconds."

"Ah… no good." Subaru exclaimed, coming about as close as she ever did to swearing – there was no time for hesitation – she kept climbing, grabbing onto a pipe above and pulling herself up, trying not to think about the potential result if she grabbed the wrong one.

Fortunately, that didn't happen. She hefted herself up onto the top of the pillar, and stood – thankfully, the energy disk above was high enough she didn't have to crouch. There were bent spires every third around the top of the pillar, apparently powering the lower containment field.

"_You made it... huh." _Klein transmitted. _"Right. Set up a cartridge on each of those emitters. Set it up so that one detonates one second before the others. Remember which."_

The first part was easy enough, since there wasn't really anything to stop her. She stuck a cartridge to each of the prongs where it bent back towards the center, and set the one closer to where they had entered to go off early, although she wasn't really sure why. That seemed entirely too simple…

"_Done." _Subaru transmitted back.

"_Peel is almost done. If I were you, I'd get back up here."_

"_How?"_

"_No idea."_

Okay… Subaru didn't have any idea how to get back up either. She could have jumped up to the platforms above, if the core wasn't in the way. She could try climbing down, but that would just leave her stranded on the support buttresses.

Well… maybe. The buttresses were about fifty meters down - the trip down was no problem for basic descent magic, but the walls on the edge of the pit were too smooth to climb the old-fashioned way, and it was sixty some meters back to the walkways… which might be difficult to make, but… it shouldn't be impossible.

"Mach Caliber." She asked. "How long can I keep Assault Grip up in here?"

"Two to Three Seconds, Minimum."

Subaru looked over at the wall, and nodded, lining herself up – the buttresses were in the opposite position as the spires above. She could do it. She **had** to do it. Her cyborg systems had been completely drained of power by the reactor... she'd really have liked the extra energy, but she'd make do without.

"All Set, Master." Mach Caliber said, guessing, or reading, her intention. "Roller Mode, Standby Ready"

"Right!" Subaru shouted, before starting off at a sprint and leaping off the edge. Mach Caliber's wheels shifted back into place as she fell – when she landed on the buttress, she already had some speed, and she pushed herself faster, up the makeshift ramp.

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –one – minute."

Subaru leapt up towards the wall, leaning back so she'd hit feet-first, and concentrated her energy into locking her skates to the wall. She had enough upward speed for a little head start, and Mach Caliber could give a bit of speed on her own, so she focused on keeping Assault Grip active – it was harder than she expected, for some reason the pull was a lot stronger than it had been on her Protection spell, and she had to strain to keep it active, almost as if she had to re-cast it every moment.

She was making progress, though, and had gotten about half way up, but it took everything she could give to continue. Sweat ran from her cheeks, and her whole body ached, accompanied by a growing tiredness in her mind, but she kept going… struggling to stay conscious, each moment taking more effort than a quarter-hour should, she finally got close enough, and immediately jumped for the walkway.

She landed hard on the metal gangplank, and immediately fell to her hands and knees, panting as she tried to catch her breath. But… it worked.

"You Made It." Mach Caliber said, somehow sounding as tired as Subaru felt. "Are You Alright?"

"We made it." Subaru corrected, still wondering how an AI could sound tired. She shook herself off, trying to regain her composure, but that just made her headache worse. She pushed herself up, and made her way back to the center – harder than it sounded, due to a combination of dizziness and skates on a metal grid – but she accomplished it.

"Back already, huh?" Klein asked "Nice show. I hope you have strength enough left to press a button."

"Of course she does!" Peel shouted down from the column above.

"Alert. Energy overflow in progress. Failsafe countermeasures disabled. Critical overload in –forty five – seconds."

"If you've got a plan, do it now!" Klein said.

Peel made his way down from the upper containment generator. "One thing left…"

A grinding noise echoed from above, as the reactor shaft cover slowly opened. Peel waited as it covered most of the distance, then finished…

"Alright, that's it. Everyone in here, get together. Everyone else, run. Nakajima, set off your charges just as the assembly falls. It's the south pylon, right?"

"Understood. I guess… the one by the door." Subaru replied, placing a hand on the control switch on her left wrist.

"Right. In three… two… one…"

Three cartridges up top detonated in a flash, carving a gouge in the top pillar – the containment generator immediately stopped rotating, and cracks started growing through the assembly… a second later, it fell.

"Emergency! Reactor Containment Lost. Detonation Imminent." The automated announcement system… announced. "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

Subaru set off her cartridges as quickly as her exhausted reflexes allowed – the 'southern' pylon flew off into the pit, followed by the core assembly, the remaining containment panels carrying the glowing core down the shaft… a few hundred meters, the panels fell away entirely, and the glowing core quickly grew in intensity.

"This'll be rough!" Peel shouted, slamming his hand into the floor and runes materialized around his lower arm. A halo of white energy appeared underneath, and a second later, the core was consumed in a brilliant flash.

A torrent of heat and blast of air washed over Subaru's body, as the entire grid and everyone on it was lifted upward by the force. She felt dizzy all over again, and fell over, carried upwards by Peel's forcefield.

Next moment, they were high above the reactor, falling over the forest... she was vaguely aware she should probably be concentrating on slowing her fall…

The moment after that, Subaru was lying on her back, her body aching all over, black smoke rising from the power station in the distance, a fragment of something-or-other smoking off to her right, a blurry figure running out from behind it, towards her.

"That's her! Vitals are stable… somehow." Someone said – she recognized the voice from the Precinct, but couldn't assign a name… she felt very tired… "Officer Nakajima, just lay still…

…Officer?"

38th Aerial Command Training Company Grounds, Command Building.

Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0803 Hours

Nanoha took a look back at her daughter as she reached for the door leading into the command center – Vivio was seated on one of the waiting room couches, browsing through a copy of Dimension ANSWER, of all things, and Nanoha had to suppress a laugh as she read the headline 'THE KING HAS RETURNED, AND THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH' splashed across the cover. For once they were at least **half** right.

Nanoha walked inside, hurried to her office, and moved to the window, looking down on the unusually empty training grounds behind. If the situation was bad enough that students were being sent back to their units… or training was cancelled…

She slid the curtains closed, leaned against the sill, and took a deep breath. Aliens… this couldn't be what anyone wished the Bureau's first contact with an alien species would be like. She'd been listening to the news on AVT on the ride here, so she had a general idea how bad things were. At least eighty thousand dead – an entire city – and possibly as many as two hundred thousand. The worst disaster on an administrated world she could remember didn't even register by comparison, and there wasn't a chance she wasn't going to do anything about it.

"Captain Takamachi…"

Nanoha turned around, as Lieutenant Terris Sigel entered. She'd been hoping to send her message before he realized she came back. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, and he did a good job running the company's day-to-day operations, but he always really wanted things to be run properly, by procedure, and she… was a bit more of a free spirit. He stopped as he entered the room.

"Bit dark in here?" Lt. Sigel said, switching on the lights. "That's better… so… you heard the news?"

"I have…" Nanoha replied

"Right… well… if you check your email, there should be a message from High Command… about twenty of our students are being transferred back to their unit. Training is suspended for today… you might want to look at plans for tomorrow though."

"Yeah… ahh" Nanoha began, before being interrupted by a sneeze.

"I have some Avolet in my office, if you want…" Sigel offered.

"Nah, I'm fine. Anyways… I had another idea."

"This is another of those Nanoha Things, isn't it?"

"Kinda…" Nanoha replied. Well, there wasn't much point in dancing around the question anymore… she'd take her chance, and hope for the best. "I was thinking, this incident, the forward forces will need all the help they can get, if it's really as bad it sounds on the news… and sending everyone back could take a while, so I thought I'd ask the general if he could assign the company to forward service…"

"I see." Sigel said, nodding, showing an expression of resigned annoyance. "I thought you might say that."

"I know that it's not our mission." She explained. "But this is one of the greatest concentrations of high-ranking"

"I already spoke with General Gehardi." Sigel replied. "About this question."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He said this is a backyard unit, and your duty is to serve and protect the public by preparing others to face threats like this." Sigel explained, then changed tone, addressing her directly. "Confronting the enemy yourself isn't your job, Captain. Not anymore."

"I know…" Nanoha replied. "I chose this position so that I could help others. But now, by the time we can do anything here, it'll be too late, and I can't just stand and watch from the side! If I don't go, then there'll be more danger, and I can't accept that."

"I see." Sigel replied. "But this company is not your personal army. It has a specific mission to accomplish…"

"However…" He continued "I won't attempt argue with **you**. A year ago, you requested a temporary reassignment…"

"You're right, I could do that." Nanoha said. "I had lots of time, then… "

"Still worth a try. I can handle things for a while, but it would be nice."

"Yeah, I sup-." She said, sneezing again. "pose."

"You sure you don't want anything?" Sigel asked.

"Yeah, it's not a big…" Nanoha began, an idea suddenly striking mid-sentence. "…deal."

"What?"

"Call General Gehardi. Tell him I'll be taking a week or so sick leave."

"For a cold? You never take sick leave."

"That's true… but the regulations don't specify how sick you have to be, as long as you have days left… right?"

"Err… yeah. But they also state that an officer on leave, for any reason, loses his or her authority to act on the behalf of the Bureau."

Nanoha took a seat, and pressed a finger to her cheek, thinking. "What about volunteers… or emergency recall to duty?"

"If someone recruited you like that, I suppose you might get away with it." Sigel replied. "Has it ever occurred you might be trying too hard?"

"Nope. I have a few friends I could make arrangements with…"

"Right…" Sigel concluded, sighing and shaking his head. "But not right now. Let's finish the lesson plans for the week, and then you can go out and get everything set up."

City of Whithaum, Near 6th Street Bridge

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0803 Hours

The Orks had broken through the bridgehead, and the 298th and 78th were falling back northward – most of the Orks followed them, but a large number were moving through the city, stealing everything they could, breaking everything they couldn't, and forming a sort of accidental rearguard. It was the 103rd Battalion that would push through this mob and strike the Orks from behind. And Section One would aid them.

"_Orks detected, 200 meters ahead." _The 103rd's Executive Officer transmitted over the local command channel. _"Prepare to disembark, initiate urban sweep pattern alpha and engage."_

The DN-381 leading the column turned right, into the parking lot of a nearby building. The man driving Section One's vehicle swore as he slammed on the brakes, and then rolled forward and parked the PL-541 on the other side of the entrance as the rest of 103rd Battalion turned into the lot.

As the bus halted, Lieutenant Signum Nedes stood, walked out the door as soon as it opened, and donned her armor with a moment of concentration. The 103rd Battalion's vehicles gradually began to park as she waited outside Section One's bus as they disembarked. First Sergeant Felkel ordered the unit to form up into squads, which they quickly did. Smoke rose and weapons fire boomed in the distance, but there was no sign the Orks had noticed their approach.

"Section Ready." Sgt. Felkel reported, about half a minute later

"_31__st__ Company, Section One, standing by_." Signum relayed to the major.

"_Good. Give me uh, thirty seconds. Just move on down the road, we'll clean them up as they come."_

"_Understood." _Signum replied. There wouldn't be enough space to spread out on the road – but there was no time to navigate through the buildings and back roads. "Let's go. Flame Squad will take the lead. Felkel, rearguard. "

At that, Signum turned and started off down the road towards the battle line, the rest of the section following after a moment later. They moved quickly along the road, but carefully, watching the nearby buildings for any sign of Orks.

They first met the enemy about a minute later – it was Corporal Kinley, Flame 3, who spotted them first, and immediately opened fire. The rest of the section – at least the ones near the front, quickly followed suit, swarming the Ork and the utility truck he'd been trying to break into with energy bolts. He didn't even have a chance to react.

A moment later, another Ork ran out from behind a building on the right, leveling its gun and opening fire – another ducked out from behind a vehicle in the lot across the street. Likewise, a storm of bolts answered their appearance, and since they were neither very swift nor attempting to take cover, both were cut down in seconds."Huh…" A nearby private – Hossler, D-3, commented. "I suppose these guys aren't that dangerous…"

"Heh." Agito replied. "Maybe for us."

Don't get cocky." his sergeant quickly added. "Their aim may suck, but these guys are tough."

"_Any sign of more?"_ Signum asked, out loud and over section general, scanning the area herself. The squad leaders reported nothing visual, but there was an anomalous sensor contact, very close, on the right.

There was a sound like ripping fabric, and a guttural roar.

"What the!?" Agito shouted. Signum turned to her left side, where the sound came from – a group of Orks had just appeared, on the top of a low building. They were close, and numerous. Some fired their weapons, spraying the ground with wild fire, and others simply leapt from the building, screaming and waving weapons.

"Engage!" Signum shouted to the others, then drew Levantine and leapt forward, slashing one of Orks in midair before landing on the building, next to the others, as Sergeant Felkel reported their situation. Two of the nearby Orks roared, one pausing to smash the flat of his axe against his chest in challenge, and charged. She swung upwards at the first Ork, cutting across its chest and sword arm, and sending it sprawling backwards in a spray of greenish blood – it wasn't a major wound, but the magical energy attached to the strike was enough to stagger it, at least. Signum sidestepped left as the second Ork chopped down with his axe, and swiftly counterattacked, phasing straight through the creature's neck, and the creature clutched its throat, stumbled, and collapsed. The first Ork struggled to crawl closer, before finally passing out.

Signum took a moment to look over the situation. Section One was faring well enough. The Orks still on the roof were her concern. There were only six or so – three fired guns at her, and another raised a long weapon in the air, while the other two were firing down at the ground. She swept Levantine beside her, concentrating energy into it…

"Levantine! Cartridge Load!"

"Explosion!" Levantine responded, a cartridge detonating and sheathing the blade in energy. Signum charged forward, the occasional chance hit deflected without injury, and sliced through the two Orks on the left, spun, and slammed her heel into the gunner on the right, knocking it flying off the roof – wouldn't stop it, but it was out of the way. Energy crackled around the central Ork, singeing one of the remaining gunners. Up closer, she could identify the long-shafted weapon the center Ork was carrying – a standard issue S-17 device. A moment later, before there was time to do anything, it spat a column of green lightning at the people below – gouging a trench in the road – no one was hit, although one soldier had to jump out of the way and a surge of surprised chatter echoed over transmission for moment.

Signum ignored it, as she stepped in, and swung Levantine down over the Ork's head – it turned and brought up its device to block the blow – to Signum's surprise, the two weapons collided in a shower of sparks, and she noticed two things – the Ork had apparently taped a kitchen cleaver to the head of the device, and it was rapidly emitting a shower of green sparks.

The Ork shoved forwards, and swung the blade-tipped device at Signum's head. She ducked underneath his strike, and counter attacked, sweeping her sword back and slicing a shallow line across the creature's chest. It ignored the wound, roared, and swung again. Signum hopped back, out of the way, and the blow smashed a hole in the building's roof.

The light around the Ork's makeshift glaive faded away, and it struggled to pull it from the roof. Signum stepped to the side, and charged power into her device…

"Lightning Flash!"

Fire flickered along Levantine's edge as Signum swung down at the Ork's weapon, just as it managed to free it. The blade cleaved through the creature's left wrist, immediately rendering its hand limp, but that only made it angrier. The Ork swung the device back across with its remaining good hand, Signum's armor effortlessly deflecting the blow as it struck her shoulder. He drew back, green lightning arcing from his eyes, and vanished in a shower of sparks.

He'd be back – assuming he hadn't vaporized himself, that was. One of the other Orks shooting down from the building was down. The other looked up in confusion, just as Signum reached it- she swung low, tripping it, and paused as she reached the edge of the building.

"_Major. This is Lieutenant Nedes. Have engaged an Ork mage"_ Signum hastily reported. The last Ork on top was lying stunned, but there were dozens more below – Section One was managing to hold off the assault, but another group of 30, perhaps, was approaching from the street ahead to the right…

Some of the Orks noticed her, and sprayed bullets in her direction – ten out of the stream, perhaps, impacted against Signum's armor. Nothing she was concerned about. A trio of fireballs – Agito's doing, most likely – lashed out and exploded amidst the Orks, launching about a dozen into the air.

"Drache-Blitz Schliefe!" Signum shouted, crouching down and channeling her strength before launching herself into the midst of the Orks. Levantine burned its remaining three cartridges as she flew, light glittering from the blade. She landed in the small space where one of the fireballs had detonated, and swung her sword in a wide sweep as the Orks closed in around her, a crescent wave of energy trailing in its wake.

The arc tossed Orks away in a tsunami of force, breaching a gap in the attacking column. That would buy a moment. From behind, an Ork bellowed just to Signum's left. She reversed her blade and jabbed at where it should be. An unnecessary risk, she realized, but she had struck true, so she gave it no more thought. She spun, Levantine phasing out of the Ork she'd just struck. Another one of the Orks on the front half roared, and rushed towards her – she swung upwards, knocking him away – with a significant amount of blood, despite phase mode, and slashed again, her blade phasing through another three Orks still focused on getting to the rest of the section, and two of them fell stunned, the other just dazed. Fire from Section One was whittling the Ork's numbers down - there weren't many left, but they were close now.

"_Didn't catch that, Lieutenant…" _Major Pellegrin transmitted. The remaining of the three she'd just struck swung a motorized saw-bladed sword at her – she raised her sword to block, and the force of the rotating blades drove both weapons away from each other. Signum recovered faster, and slashed downwards. For the first time, she missed, as the rest of the Orks collided with Section, except for one more from the back, that charged directly towards her as it recovered from her sweep. _"We are also enaged with hostiles, unable to assist!"_ The major finished.

So, the Orks were attacking the rest of the battalion as well, perhaps even responding in force...That would have to wait for later. Another Ork made a typically clumsy swing at her as the mob collided with Section One – Signum ducked underneath and swung low, paralyzing the creature's legs and bringing it to the ground, at least. A heavy blow struck her in the back – her armor absorbed most of it, but she rolled away from the strike, springing up near another Ork. Her upward swing carried both of them into the air, and knocked the creature unconscious.

Signum stepped over the Ork in midair, and snap-kicked another in the face as she landed – it didn't phase the creature, which roared back in anger. The moment she landed, Signum stabbed upwards into the roaring Ork's chest, Levantine phasing the whole distance through – unsurprisingly, that one collapsed immediately – what had been a concentrated mass before was now dissolving into a number of isolated groups – there were no Orks in the immediate area.

Meanwhile, a large cluster of Orks charged into mêlée with a pair of soldiers from Section one. Their comrades quickly rushed to support them before they were overwhelmed, but now the fight dissolved into a general brawl. Signum ran towards the cluster – up close, the Orks had the advantage over a typical bureau mage.

"Oi! Ya lumpy grot!" A particularly large Ork shouted, running into her path, two others following after it, all three in crude armor, rather than the scraps the others wore. "Dat ain't a real choppa! Choppas are supposed ta be cutty! I show ya what a real choppa looks like!"

It shook a large, long-bladed axe, bellowed in incoherent aggression, and surged forward to meet her – she was already running, but adjusted her path to meet them head on. One of its companions took the lead – jagged sword held high, pistol barking.

A small number of bullets struck her armor, probably hard enough to bruise. It was weakening. The Ork closed, drawing his sword for a wide swing. Signum readied her weapon as well, then ducked in under its swing, ramming her shoulder into the Ork's chest and flipping it over her back. It fell on its back behind her, leaving nothing in between Signum and the largest Ork. She swung, but the Ork quickly shifted his own weapon into the way – and the blades crashed together in a burst of sparks.

"No Field Detected." Levantine noted, as the Ork quickly counterattacked – Signum blocked the strike with no great effort, but still – she parried another fierce blow – it shouldn't be possible at all, but that was only a curiosity, and could wait. She deflected the next blow and sidestepped away, countering with a thrust at the large Ork. It lunged forward, and managed to avoid all but a scratch across his left arm, straight through the steel plate strapped there. It was enough to spoil his balance, just a bit, but his axe still struck her mid-chest almost simultaneously – her armor stopped it, but it made her stumble, as another Ork – the one she'd barreled under getting to their champion - saw the opportunity, roared, and charged.

Signum soon regained her footing, as the first Ork reached her, swinging its sword low. She jumped over the blade, and swung straight down, Levantine phasing through its makeshift armor. The Ork growled, dropped to its knees, and collapsed to the ground, but the others scarcely paused - the larger closed in, and its other companion raised a large machine gun, ready to fire.

"Panzergeist!" Signum yelled, gathering energy into a defensive field around her – just in time, as the machine gun Ork opened fire, dozens of shots shattering against the aura. The large Ork bellowed as it shouldered its axe, sprinting forward. Defending against both at once could be a bit complicated. She'd need to –

A bright sphere of flame slammed into the Ork with the machine gun, sending it hurtling away to slam into another Ork, setting both aflame.

"_Got him!"_ Agito's voice said. _"That's, oh… thirteen now."_

That made it simpler. She released the field and shifted right, just as the large Ork swung his axe. Signum swept Levantine in an ark, knocking its axe aside, and slammed her boot into its face, momentarily dazing it.

"Cartridge Load." She commanded.

"Explosion!" Levantine replied, a cartridge activating with a blast of smoke.

"Scwhert-Blitz!" Signum shouted, light flaring along the edge of her sword. She swung, the blade tearing apart the Ork's armor and phasing through its chest. The Ork growled loudly, seized her around the shoulders, and threw her off to the side.

Signum landed on her back a few meters away, and quickly skidded to a halt on the rough pavement, her armor keeping her safe from serious injury. The Ork picked up his weapon, shook itself off, roared and sprinted toward her, "YOUZ… GONNA BLEED… FOR THAT!" It screamed, raising its axe over its back, ready to strike. Perfect. Signum jabbed upwards, through the middle of the Ork's upper chest. It stopped immediately, and slumped, losing its grip on its weapon. "Ya Grot…" It continued. "lumpy… bleed."

Signum rolled aside, as the giant Ork fell around where she had been lying, and stood. The area was mostly cleared of Orks – conscious ones, at least – dozens lay dead or knocked out, and four more attempting to flee – apparently there were limits to their insane courage, then. The Section did not hold back, and their fire knocked down two of them, as the other two escaped around the corner. A soldier sprinted past, chasing after them.

"Hold!" Signum ordered. "Don't pursue." He stopped, and Signum turned to face the rest of the section. Quite a few soldiers had been hurt, and medics were already attending to them. Mostly, though, Section One seemed in good order…

"I got fifteen of the ugly green things, for sure." Agito said, flying up to her. "Really bad for the rest up close… you?"

"Ten, not counting the Sweep." Signum guessed, shrugging. "Some of their weapons block phase fields." She added, and then caught herself – making excuses… she was acquiring Agito's bad habits. In any event, their rivalry wasn't important. She had key matters to attend to.

"_Sergeant Felkel."_ Signum said, both aloud and over transmission, in case he couldn't hear. _"Status?"_

"_Eighteen injured. Three status critical, nine total CI. Private Tawana…"_

"_Dead?"_ She guessed.

"_Dead. Her squad was cut off… they're two of the status critical. Squad B is 0% combat effective. E was hit hard as well… "_

"_I understand."_ Signum said. _"Arrange medevac. I'll contact the 103__rd__."_

She called up survey view – the 103rd's DN-381 detected a large group of Orks approaching – several battalions worth, assuming the sensors were reading all of them, and a smaller force was already engaged with the battalion.

"_Major Pellegrin, this is Lieutenant Nedes. Section One, ready move to your aid."_

"_Received. We could use all the help we can get. Last transmission, did you say you had engaged an Ork __**Mage?**__"_

"_Yes sir. It had stolen a standard issue device."_

"_Black Abyss… I wouldn't have thought they had the intellect for it, but I suppose I should've expected it… damn! They've got some really big guns out here, and… I'll talk after the victory, over! Get here!" _

The major ended the transmission. That didn't leave much left – Signum examined the survey view once again. The Battalion was spread out across a network of back alleys and buildings, which was fortunately preventing the Orks from bringing their entire force down on them at once. She examined the street plan, and picked out the their route – they should arrive on the left flank of the battle, within five or so minutes.

"_Sergeant, which squads have one man down." _she asked.

"_D, G, I and J"_

"_Understood." _Signum switched her attention to PFC Seneca, 'commander' of Squad G. It's old Sergeant had taken an SNCO/XO position, and its second most senior also transferred out…leaving it extremely inexperienced. _"Private, stay here and cover the Medevac. Head back with them, do not attempt to rendezvous."_

"_Wha… Yes sir. Understood." _Came the response.

"_Okay."_ Signum said, over section general. _"We're moving out. Transmitting the route now. Form and advance."_

They did exactly that, moving ahead down the road, moving past the dealership – the Battalion had managed to advance some distance further along their route than they had, so they'd need to catch up with them. They were making their way down a large divided street to park where most of the fighting was going on when Signum received a transmission from Hayate.

"_Hey, Signum… the fighting at 8__th__ Street is dying down, but it looks like the entire Ork army is heading towards you…"_

"_I saw that…" _Signum replied. _"We could use any assistance you could give me, Mistress."_

"_Personally? I'll try. Right now, General Shendaler is rallying the northern battalions. The 298__th__ is… gone, and 718__th__ and 78__th__ all but routed."_

"_And your own command?"_

"_In good status. I'll see about moving Shamal and Michael's 4__th__ Section to you, but it'll be a while. For now…"_

A flatbed truck that looked like it had been assembled from rusted scrap plates barreled down a side street, trailing smoke behind from its engine, a dozen or so Orks riding in back, firing their weapons even more wildly than before as their vehicle zoomed towards the section, apparently intent to run them down.

"_Hold on, we're being attacked." _Signum interrupted, as the soldiers of Section One fired back. One of the Orks tumbled from the vehicle after taking a few hits, but the vehicle kept moving forward, another Ork firing a heavy machine gun from the vehicle's side seat.

"Agito! Flame Squad!" Signum shouted, drawing her sword. "Destroy that vehicle! The rest, focus on the infantry!"

"Got it!" Agito shouted, as a bombardment beam blasted the left side of the vehicle, ripping off the forward axles – the vehicle immediately swerved, throwing several more Orks flying from its bed as it skidded. A moment later, a fireball slammed into the side of the cabin, removing what was left of the vehicle's mobility. It rolled onto its side, sending the remaining passengers tumbling ahead – through a hail of energy bolts – as it skidded to a halt.

"_More of them from the east!" _Corporal Harclerode transmitted. _"It's a whole section! Orders!"_

Signum glanced over to the side – there was indeed a large group of Orks approaching – how they hadn't seen or detected them before, she didn't know… and there were more on this road, running up behind the smoking wreck – at least twenty of them. _"Flame, B, C, hold the north flank!" _She shouted._ "Everyone else, focus on the eastern attack!_"

For the time being, she stayed on this side. Over half of the vehicle's passengers were already down hard, and the remainder injured, but the group coming up behind could be dangerous. She'd try to thin them. First, though, she pointed Levantine to an Ork armed with a weapon linked to a backpack – a liquid projector, perhaps."Drache-Glut." She said.

"Ja!" Levantine replied, a beam of fiery red energy erupting from the tip of the blade to strike the Ork mid-chest. Without warning, the canisters on its back detonated in a blossom of flame, incinerating it and another nearby. Signum hadn't intended for that to happen, but it was useful nonetheless. She leapt over the flames, and landed on top of the truck, gaining a clear view of the rest of the Orks – there were indeed, only about 20. She could probably defeat them all, but it would take a while, at least without help…

"Hey!" Agito shouted, flying up next to her as if on cue, and giving a two-finger salute. "RED INFERNO! SPHERE!"

Agito hurled a meter-wide fireball into the midst of the Ork forces, where it exploded and scattered the horde, to say nothing of the actual damage – a dozen Orks scorched and stunned, some seriously enough to stop them.

"That's three, four, five, six, seven… …your turn!"

A few of the Orks recovered enough to take a few shots at the pair, although only one bullet struck to no effect – Signum's armor had recovered after the last battle. There wasn't time to spare, and the road was fairly wide an open… excellent.

"Schlagenform!" Signum ordered, and swung Levantine to her side, the blade separating into half a dozen modules. The Orks poured more fire in her general direction, a small proportion of their shots striking off her armor as she pulled the quickly multiplying cord of blades, across the charging line, phasing through four Orks, three of which quickly dropped. She swung upwards on the return strike, the cord ripping through the road down the ranks of the Ork mob, knocking out one more and striking another, and leapt down from the burning truck.

"_Lieutenant, there's no way we can hold them off!" _Sergeant Felkel transmitted. _"We're initiating combat withdrawal, by your leave."_

"_Understood, and acknowledged." _Signum replied, as a cluster of Agito's firebolts streaked over her head. She whirled Levantine over her head, focusing all her strength, and slashed to the right, tearing straight through the remaining Orks. -of which there weren't many… four of them then staggered and fell. The five remaining Orks decided the odds were poor even by their insane standards, and fled.

Agito snapped her fingers, – the sound was inaudible of course, but Signum could see it - and two of the Ork's clothes caught fire… not enough to seriously wound them, but enough to be painful. "Go to the other line, but hold back. For now." Signum instructed her, ignoring the characteristic waste of effort, and flew to the other battle-line, over the nearby fast-food store.

A smattering of small arms fire rose up to greet her – stray shots as they charged towards the rest of the section, about twenty meters distant. She swung Levantine's chain downwards, a series of flashes where blades had struck as it cut through the enemy group. She flew to the side, occasional shots tracing after her, landed behind the Ork force, and switched back to sword form. Chain Form was fast, but not efficient – good for suddenly overwhelming enemies, but she couldn't fight a whole army that way, and the street was too narrow anyways.

A handful of the Orks broke off from the main charge, running back towards Signum, firing and waving their weapons. She flew forward herself, towards the left most Ork, swinging as she passed by – it stumbled and fell to the ground, still moving, but down for the moment. She reversed her course and lunged forward, thrusting her sword through another Ork. She drew Levantine back, and the Ork fell to the asphalt as the others circled around her. One of the largest bellowed and charged, axe raised high, and another quickly followed after it. Roaring, it swung downwards – Signum spun aside, slashing in a wide circle as she moved – straight through both Orks, which actually flew half a meter back and lay stunned. The others didn't attack, although they looked ready to charge at any moment… meanwhile, the rest of the group thundered ahead, towards her section.

"_They're almost on top of us, Lieutenant!" _Felkel transmitted.

Another Ork roared and charged, a firing a makeshift pistol. A shot from the pistol slammed dully into her shoulder, followed by another in her lower back – no serious injury – as the Ork charged in, drawing a crooked blade behind it. It never got the chance – Signum swung an uppercut through its chest, sending it hurtling through the air.

"_Agito! Barricade, now!" _Signum emphatically transmitted, in the brief time before the Ork crashed to the ground. Agito didn't respond, but she got the message. A moment later, a wall of flame rippled across the street in front of the Orks – some stopped, most didn't, and the ones that didn't pushed the others into the flame. She heard the heavy footfall of another Ork from behind, and immediately turned about and slashed downward at the attacker. The first Ork, at her feet, was beginning to recover – she slammed her boot down on its head with all the strength she could manage - that was a large amount, and should have turned its skull to paste. Instead, it got knocked out – mostly.

The horde of Orks finally stopped, after most of their number incinerated themselves. The remaining two around her charged – Signum moved forwards, slashing both – first on the right, then on the left as she stepped past. The last Ork sluggishly turned, and she struck again, knocking it down… for a while, at least. Signum turned towards the rear of the Ork force, just as the flame wall went down. Without hesitation, the remaining Orks resumed their charge, but Section One had taken the chance to put some distance between them, and immediately opened fire. The Orks didn't last long. In moments, there were only half a dozen remaining, and she didn't even have a chance to help.

"_That went pretty well." _Agito transmitted. _"Although if they keep this up - Lieutenant, behind you!"_

Signum turned around, and saw a vehicle race out from a side street, half a dozen Orks riding on top. She recognized it as once having been a DN-381 – quite probably **their **DN-381 – nearly unrecognizable after metal plates had been randomly strapped to every available surface, and a large gun bolted on top . It swerved, heading straight towards her. Sickly green energy crackled around one of the Orks riding on top, as it raised an S-18 device – the Ork mage from before. It thrust the device forward, immense power gathering before it and filling the air with static and sparks dancing across her skin – harmless themselves, but markers for the rest of the spell.

Signum dove out of the way, and at the same time focused her magic to neutralize the electric charge on her body – an instant later, a blast of green lightning ripped down the road.

She narrowly escaped the blast, electricity or something similar running across lower body, and rolled to a crouch, despite the numbness in her legs. She looked back, and saw a huge trench gouged in the road where she had been standing. Signum leapt to her feet and rushed forward, as the Orks leapt off the truck.

They met in a clash of steel, Signum slashing at an Ork as she ran forward, who stumbled out of the way, but remained standing. Another Ork swung its axe at her head – she ducked under and quickly countered, Levantine phasing diagonally through its chest, while another slammed a heavy blow across her back – it wasn't a serious wound thanks to her armor, but it had still nearly penetrated her skin.

The DN-381 jerked back as the cannon on top fired, and several pieces fell off. It had never been meant to carry weapons, let alone anything so large, but as crude as the modification was, it was effective, a shell striking a nearby office complex and bringing it tumbling down, some of the rubble landing in the midst of Signum's section.

"_Sergeant Felkel, Agito!"_ Signum transmitted, sidestepping another swing. _"Destroy the command crawler!"_

"_**That's **__our crawler? What did they __**do **__to it?"_

Signum didn't answer, parrying a swing from an Ork and counterattacking with a thrust through its chest. The vehicle's side door opened, and more Orks began to pile out. The mage jumped down from on top of the vehicle, and roared louder than the average jet engine, green energy spiraling out from around it. Signum jumped back, as the light seemed to stick to the orks, making their hulking shapes blurring and flickering as they moved.

Some sort of boost spell, Signum guessed. The mage, and the group with him – about fifteen – seemed determined to get to her specifically. They raced forwards, their movements as clumsy as ever – but faster. One closed in and swung a heavy sword – Signum swung Levantine to meet it, accelerators fully active, and tore through its weapon. She ducked aside to avoid the falling piece of sword. Another slashed lower – she stepped back in time that the strike narrowly scraped across the front of her armor.

A barrage of energy bolts surged in from the left, sweeping through the Orks. Although they seemed even hardier than usual, one or two went down, but the rest were determined. Signum spun as an Ork shouted behind her, swinging low and sweeping through the creature's legs, before turning back to face the rest. A ray from a bombardment attack struck the DN-381 directly, followed by one of Agito's fire blasts. The first beam hit the giant gun nearly head on, and it exploded in a column of black smoke. The fire blast struck the frontal plating, and dented it but otherwise had no effect.

Screaming, another Ork charged, readying a large whirring saw blade. Signum moved to parry, but the Ork had another trick, for once – it threw itself forward, narrowly bypassing Signum's counter, and barreled her over with sheer mass. The huge stinking creature landed on top of her, and thrust its saw down into her shoulder while she was still stunned.

Her armor was still working, though – at least partially – it just barely penetrated the barrier, and left a shallow cut along her shoulder. Not enough to stop her or even slow her significantly. Signum quickly recovered, and rammed her sword through the Ork's chest. That barely phased it, and it drew back to attack again – Signum thrust again, through the creature's neck. It growled, and drew back, giving her an opportunity to slip out from underneath and cartwheel-levitate into a standing position, kicking it in the chin as she did, it staggered back and finally fell over, stunned for the moment. They were getting tougher.

A third bombardment attack hit the DN-381 (which, now weaponless, had charged Section One's lines), and tore through the frontal plating, crippling it. More Orks had gone down from the hail of fire – there were now only nine. Signum flew towards one of the smaller remaining Ork, slashing horizontally as she did – the blow struck true, and it flailed backwards before falling.

The mage was now the biggest threat – Signum didn't have to seek it out, though, because the Ork mage was already charging, screaming its incoherent warcry and swinging its makeshift polearm. Immediately, Signum raised Levantine to parry the strike, and the weapons clashed in a shower of energy. They struggled for a moment, the Ork nearly matching her magically augmented strength. Another Ork took the opportunity afforded, and struck her in the side – fortunately, she pushed away just as she saw it coming, and for once, her decorative hip plating stopped the attack – and she broke the stalemate. Immediately, Signum counterattacked, with a sideways swing towards the mage's chest. It jerked backwards, and was barely touched, as green lightning crackled around its hand. Signum followed up with a swing at the other Ork – she hit and disabled it – then ducked, as waves of electricity washed over her, and the Ork swung its glaive down. This time, Signum stepped aside, just as she had before, but the Ork stopped before getting stuck again – still, she was able to land a solid strike, across the Ork's chest, but not solid enough – it was still standing.

The Ork turned and thrust its makeshift weapon towards her. Again, she dodged to the side, and brought her sword down on the haft of the weapon – no such luck, it still had a field.

At that moment, a small helicopter careened overhead, billowing smoke – followed by three others. A split second later, a bomb detonated – in the midst of her troops. Now more resolved than ever, Signum forced the Ork's weapon down, and rammed her elbow into its jaw, then turned and slashed out its legs. The magical stun was caused it to stumble, but then somehow, it managed to stay upright – sort of, balancing unsteadily on one leg. Signum closed in, screaming back herself, and swung – once, twice, three times, each strike phasing through the Ork's chest, and the mage fell to the ground, finally.

It wasn't out yet. The same green light gathered around it, in copious amounts, the flow accelerating as the energy seemed to seep from the creature's body as it roared even less coherently than before. Signum raised her sword to interrupt, and hopefully finish, it… – but it didn't look right. Trusting her instinct, she flew backwards, away and upwards. She was right – a second later, the mage exploded, raging magical energy essentially erasing everything about three meters around it.

Next, those helicopters – Signum scanned the sky, and found them – and a pair of their own JF-673s engaged with the Ork helicopters, and winning. TSAB helicopters were never heavily armed, but they were apparently armed enough to deal with the small Ork craft – as she watched, one of the helicopters zeroed in on the Ork craft, breaking something vital with a burst from its AS-7s.

The one remaining helicopter fled, as its wingman spiraled out of the sky, and the JF-673s circled around, looking for a landing spot.

"Hey! Signum!" A familiar 'voice' cried out in her mind - Reinforce. "There's a landing spot about three hundred meters from your position… it seems clear, but… can you get to it?"

Signum thought she could see what Reinforce was talking about. She checked her map on the holographic display to be sure, before confirming. "Yes. We can. I thought you were helping Hayate…"

"I was. She doesn't need my help at the moment, so I gathered what reserves I could and came to help..."

"Living up to your name, I see." Signum said. "Okay. We could certainly use your help. I'll be there."

Childa Orbital Shipyard

High orbit above Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0831 Hours

Docking Bay 7 was packed, and noisy with shouts, groans, and the occasional crackle of machinery, but after coming from the surface, it seemed dissonantly serene. Likewise, the tiny dot that Fate thought was Feine on the planet below showed no sign of the destruction that had ensued.

She had been fortunate – only slightly wounded. First degree burns on her back, a dozen minor cuts, bruises, and what amounted to a moderate sunburn all over her body. A medic had come to see her, cut off her uniform, looked over her, and then quickly left. She didn't begrudge him – there were, many much more seriously wounded, though she wished he'd left something in the way of clothes… even with the short curtain between her and the rest of the bay, she was feeling rather exposed… part of the reason she was facing towards the wall.

Meanwhile, Teana lay sleeping, or passed out, on a bed next to the window, a trauma wrap around her chest. Finding her was the first thing Fate had done upon getting aboard, and a medic had told her she'd be fine. That didn't stop her from worrying though, especially since no one had told her **how** Teana had been hurt…

"Fate-chan." Someone said. "Are you alright?" It was male, and there were only a few people who'd use that term. She turned around, not thinking, and saw Chrono standing in the doorway. He saw her too, a little too much.

"C... Chrono!" Fate stammered, covering herself with her arms. "Uh…"

"Sorry!" Chrono quickly said, his bearing evaporating as he looked away. "I… wasn't thinking."

"Eh… don't worry, it's okay." Fate replied, trying to gesture acquiescence without moving her hands. "just don't look."

"Still, uh… anyways." Chrono said. "Are you okay?"

"It's not myself I'm worried about." Fate replied, gesturing towards Teana – again as best she could without actually moving her hands.

"She was in Section Six, wasn't she? Lanster?"

"Teana Lanster. She's my aide now, until she graduates to full Enforcer."

Chrono walked closer and examined the console next to Teana's bed, tapping a few keys. "Triage Code 5. She'll get better."

"Yes. I suppose we fared well, in the circumstances." Fate said, sighing. "And yourself, brother?"

"I just got out of being shouted at by at least seven different organizations. The Capital Defense Forces particularly are livid. But then, I can't complain" He finished, looking around the medical room grimly.

"I must admit… what you did was… very impressive."

"Capital scale Dimensional Ships aren't designed to operate in atmosphere. I took an extreme risk, and it happened to pay off. It could just as easily have killed all of us, and everything within two hundred kilometers. Furthermore, I doubt it will work again. They have heavy anti-ship weapons, and will be prepared next time. Some of our ships took significant damage as it was."

"It was risky, I know… but I think you saved a lot of people."

"I know." Chrono replied. "I wouldn't have attempted it otherwise."

"So… what do we do next?" Fate asked.

"I don't know what you'll be doing next. Teana here will probably be on medical leave. I'll probably be court-martialed."

"That's absurd!" Fate said.

"I was joking."

Chrono never was much of a comedian. "Hopefully, I'll be able to do _something"_ Fate said. "Maybe I can volunteer for a Riot Force…"

"Maybe." Chrono replied. "High Command always takes a while to respond to situations. They're meeting to determine their response tomorrow. I'll be at that meeting, maybe I can mention it. I wouldn't worry too much. There are over a thousand battalions on Mid-Childa… this might well be over soon."

"I hope so. This world has seen a lot of battles, I suppose… a lot of people wanting to hurt others. We'll stop these too… and save as many people as we can." Fate said, staring out the window again. She mentally found the dot she thought was Feine again, and traced back to the grey mass around Clanagan. It wasn't an inspiring sight. She reached to close the window, struggling to keep herself covered again. "Eh… but first, can you find me a towel or something?"

City of Whithaum, Near Cannon Park

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0837 Hours

Reinforce had brought about two dozen people with her, assembled from assorted units – it wasn't much, but it was something, especially considering Signum's own section was not in much state to continue. The seriously injured boarded the helicopters for evacuation, while Reinforce's reserves and the remaining Section One forces organized – there wasn't much of a chain of command in the scraps of reserves Reinforce had gathered and Sergeant Felkel was among the many injured in the bomb blast. Fortunately, Reinforce was already SNCO for the 31st and took the XO position of the whole assembly by sheer dint of rank, although many of the reserve soldiers weren't happy about that – they would have to deal with it.

After that, the small group – not even a full section – moved up along the west flank of the Ork's main force, about 2000 strong to start out – now most likely lower, although their actual number was unknown. Beside them, there was the 103rd on the southeast, now supported by the 281st Airborne from nearby Harrisburg; and what was left of the 718th, 298th, and 78th battalions, as well as Shendaler's command Section itself, advanced from the north. Conveniently, the bulk of the fighting was now centered around the fields of Cannon Park, a large, mostly open park… built around a subterranean anti-ship Buster Cannon.

The Orks probably didn't know that part, but it any event the wide space made the place into a shooting range. Whithuam Battalion Group had isolated the Orks there, and was doing their best to encircle them. Thus far, the Orks had made several small assaults on the lines, but, thus far, had been repulsed, and apparently simply hadn't thought of going to the west, where there were no forces – yet. Likewise, it was unlikely that if the whole force moved at once, the Battalion Group would be able to defend the line. Now, Signum's 'forces' were on the west flank, stationed inside a two-story corner clothing store, but they might not be able to stop a significant breakout attempt. Their mission was, according to General Shendaler, to 'engage targets of opportunity' until the forces at the Planetary Express Highway in the west – Sections 2 and 4 of the 31st Investigative, plus 31st Aerial Battalion, could reach them. Or at least until the Orks were weakened.

They were short on targets of opportunity. Signum watched through a viewing scope as an Ork armored vehicle – it was too big and frankly too crude to be called a tank – maneuvered over a playground, its heavy guns firing into the distance, before a flurry of energy blasts – courtesy of the Group's Rear Attackers – zeroed in on it. It sustained three strikes before suffering significant damage, before a fourth direct hit blasted it to pieces, secondary detonations bursting around it as shells went flying. The Orks were vaguely concentrated near a wooded cluster near the center of the park, where they were out of effective range for most of the TSAB weaponry – but also out of range of almost all of their own weaponry. It was going well, but eventually, they'd get organized, and then the real fighting would resume…

"Hey!" Reinforce said. "I think I see something!"

"What is it?" Signum asked, lowering her scope slightly. "Any idea where, in relation to some landmark?"

"It looks like… an officer, or something?" Reinforce replied, lowering her own viewer. "In the playground! Over by that little red building…"

"They have **leaders?**" Agito joked. "Now that's something I wouldn't have guessed."."

Signum was thinking something along the same lines, but there had to be some pattern of authority… in any event, she quickly found the 'little red building' next to a playground, and zoomed in. She couldn't hear what was going on, but one of the Orks was gesturing emphatically to another, indeed apparently trying to get him to do something. The supposed leader certainly looked distinct, towering over the others – twice the height of what she suspected were the 'average' sized ones, and clad in nearly full body armor that looked like it had been cobbled together, like their vehicles, from random bits of scrap with a few hydraulic pistons, on its right hand it wore a large mechanical pincer, and most tellingly, it wore a ragged banner attached to its backpack - specifically, a black flag with a stylized Orkish head and crossed pistols in red.

"You may be right." Signum said. The target was about 800 meters distant, and there weren't many Orks in between. This could be the target of opportunity they were looking for… "Can you reach from here?"

"Maybe." Reinforce said. "We're going to attack?"

Signum started to say 'yes', then paused. She was capable, but she wasn't sure of her unit. Most were green at best, and she wasn't sure of their discipline, among other factors… it was still worth the chance, but their might be an easier way.

"Notify Battalion Group command. We can call down the artillery, if they approve."

"We're not going to fight them?" Agito asked, disappointment obvious in her voice.

"Dolly's trying to get us killed…" Someone muttered. Agito immediately turned around and delivered a stream of invective upon the responsible party. Signum sympathized but couldn't tell who said it, and kept looking ahead, at the Ork commander, in case it moved. He wasn't. Judging from the tactics the Orks had demonstrated thus far, it wasn't much of a general… yet, it was clearly commanding. Perhaps… it was more of an organizer, keeping the other Orks focused on their 'mission' – it was theory based purely on basal impressions, admittedly, for all she knew the Orks were highly loyal to their own kind. Or perhaps not - this Ork was important somehow, though.

"Contact established!" Reinforce announced. "Uh… the general wants to speak to you."

"Keep an eye on the Ork." Signum command, putting away her viewing scope. A window - depicting a stressed looking female officer and General Shendaler just behind her - was standing in midair a few meters away. Signum saluted, and spoke. "This is unexpected. Your orders, General?"

"I'm not directing Rear Attackers on your Ork commander." General Shendaler said. "Are you up for a mission?"

"Of course."

"As I expected… in any event, we've noted the Orks have a strange kind of bravado. They only thing that seems to shake them is defeat up close. That's why they seldom seek cover."

"I believe I understand what you're saying… The Orks are not scared of Artillery?"

"Precisely. In fact, they seem to almost discount it. Once they're up close, though, they take things seriously. One of their units was reported to rout after its… champion, we believe, was defeated in melee combat by one of our soldiers."

"So, if we hit the Ork command with our artillery, they'll disregard it… if I defeat him in close combat, they might be intimidated by the defeat of their greatest champion?"

"That's the basic idea. It may not do much… in fact, it probably won't… but if you can defeat their commander, it might knock them off their balance just enough…"

"So what do you need me to do, exactly?" Signum asked.

"Go in and confront the Ork commander with as small a force as possible. Your section can cover for you, but ultimately you'll need to beat him man-to-man. Or… woman-to-ugly-green-thing. Of course, if that is not possible, neutralize him by any means possible."

"Understood. It will be done." Signum replied confidently. The General cut the connection. She turned to Reinforce. "We need to get its attention. Do any of our members have any long range skill?"

"None that I know about." Reinforce replied. "I just found all the people I could… all standard devices, though."

"I can do it!" Agito interjected. "I might not hit them **all** the time at this distance, but it'll definitely grab their attention."

"Good. But don't do anything yet." She said, then addressed the crowd of soldiers looking on curiously. "Soldiers, we have identified what we believe to be the leader of the Ork forces attacking Whithaum – in a few moments, we will begin long-range fire in the hopes of drawing it closer. Your mission is to prevent any other hostiles from interfering while Agito and myself deal with the commander. Reinforce will command the infantry section. Do any of you have questions to ask?"

It wasn't an elegant speech - Signum had never been very good at those – but it delivered the necessary information, and that ought to be enough.

One of the soldiers raised her hand. "This Ork leader… why can't we just shoot him?"

"General Shendaler believes that defeating the leader in close combat could demoralize the Orks." Signum answered. It was a legitimate question. "You may fire on it if Reinforce believes it necessary. Until then your mission is to provide support. Any…"

"Yeah, I've got a question." Another soldier said. "Why do we have an action figure for a CO?"

Not such a legitimate question. As it was technically against regulation for an officer to strike her subordinates, as much as they might need or deserve it, she instead responded with simple question of her own.

"What is your rank?"

"Private First Class, **sir**, but…"

"And Reinforce's rank?"

"That's not…"

"Talk to Personnel, if you must. In the meantime, obey your orders and stop wasting our time."

At that, Signum spun around, walked to the window, retrieved her viewing scope, and checked the distant playground. The Ork leader was still there, although if she had to guess, it was looking for some combat to head towards. It was about to get it, then.

"Agito." She said with a nod.

That was all that needed to be said. "On it!" Agito shouted, half a dozen fireballs appearing around her waist. With a gesture towards the Ork, they flew outwards in sequence – a few moments later, Signum noticed a single flash near the leader over the din and flash of various weapons. She pulled up her scope and zoomed in on the Ork – it was unperturbed, looking around for the source of the attack…

"Again."

A second later, the second barrage impacted – one of the Ork general's bodyguard was struck, and stumbled for a moment before recovering and patting out the flame on its clothing. The leader itself was also hit, although the bolt did little except scorch its paint - a faded pattern of red and yellow stripes. It glared straight at them, realizing their location. Good. It motioned towards a nearby pack of Orks, and then towards them, roaring. For a moment, Signum thought she could hear its warcry even at this distance. Maybe she had.

The leader and its retinue moved towards them at a fast march. On the left side, a horde of Orks formed up, running towards them – there were at least fifty, but this time they were in a much better position – and if they kept up this pace, they and their 'commander' would arrive at different times.

"Okay! I need a squad at each door, another at the stairs, and at least two people at as many windows as we can, alright?" Reinforce said. "Second story first. We can hold the stairway… not so much the doors."

Their pace wasn't changing. The Orks on the left were maintaining a sprint, while the others merely walked onwards. Some of the Orks slowed down to fire aimless shots – more towards the buildings along the side of the park than them specifically. In any event, they were too distant for most of the shots to even reach.

"Want me to hit 'em again?" Agito asked.

"No." Signum said. "They don't know exactly where we are. For now, let's keep it that way."

"Standby!" Reinforce shouted, "Do not engage until I give the word!"

Signum took the opportunity to examine the incoming Orks as they approached within 500 meters. The leader's companions weren't nearly as large as it was, but appeared to be the same sort of large Orks as she had encountered before, each with armor assembled from metal plates, though not nearly as heavy as the leader's, and wielding a variety of weapons of just about every type. A few of the small, lanky, long-nosed long-eared creatures Vita had encountered in Foevir forest scrambled around their feet, most of them carrying huge loads of ammo. The leader itself carried a large multi-barreled weapon with a rather comical-looking rocket underneath, in addition to the claw on its other hand.

It paused for a moment, shouting something at the other group, then pointed his weapon – 'aimed' would be too much credit – towards their building, and launched the rocket. It spiraled towards them, before finally flying over the top of the building, leaving a trail of black smoke behind it. It roared again – the crashing of Rear Attacker artillery drowning out any possibility of sound – and gestured towards the building. The Orks over to the side seemed to finally realize where they were – at least their shots were generally directed towards them._ "Hear you've got a really big Ork to fight down there…" _Vita's voice echoed over transmission. _"I hope you weren't thinking of leaving me out!"_

"_There isn't any fighting where you are?" _Signum silently replied.

"_Yeah… but the Orks aren't actually reaching the lines, so…"_

Soldiers ducked as a bullet zipped in through a window and crashed into a stand holding suits, knocking it over. The larger Ork force was now about 300 meters away, the leader a bit more…

"RETURN FIRE!" Reinforce shouted. There was no need to 'hide' anymore, and it would help keep the Orks attention. The soldiers with them complied, launching a flurry of bolts towards the larger Ork force. At this range it wasn't particularly accurate – but two Orks went down, as the rest continued towards them.

"_I see." _Signum told Vita. _"Your help would be welcomed."_

"_I'll be there in a few minutes."_

In the meantime, the Orks were still firing, and while it was as inaccurate as ever, a larger proportion of their shots were reaching them. Bullets struck the walls by the dozen, raining broken brick onto the street below, and as the makeshift section returned fire, the Orks spread out, some slowing or even stopping to fire, and some just running on at full sprint. They were getting closer, and further ahead of the leader. They'd have a chance to thin the force before the leader arrived, as they were doing now.

A shell bounced off Signum's armor – Reinforce shouted nearby, as she cast a spray of energy bolts towards the Orks. A soldier nearby shouted in pain and fell to the ground, a Ork bullet having pierced his barrier. A few seconds later, another soldier fell to a barrage of shots. A little over half a dozen Orks had fallen, but they continued wading through the barrage of energy blasts, shrugging off anything short of two or three direct hits.

A rocket slammed into the side of the building, blasting a hole through the wall and sending a soldier tumbling away. She got back up, only slightly scratched, and began firing from the new gap. The commander was now 250 meters away, the rest of the Orks less than one hundred. They'd taken more casualties over the past half minute or so, for every one of their soldiers injured, they had downed three Orks – injuring them only slowed them down. The fire had gotten intense enough that Signum had to take cover – her armor could only do so much good, and even the Orks could eventually hit her standing in the window, so it was no sense making herself an obvious target.

She looked over the windowsill – the Ork leader was now some distance away from any assistance – besides his own bodyguard, of course. Hopefully, this unit could occupy the nearer Orks, and take care of itself. "Reinforce!" Signum shouted, ducking back below. "I need you to use Frozen Shroud. Agito and I will move out and engage the commander. Your section must defeat the rest."

"_We're engaging the commander now. Meet up with me when you get here." _Signum added to Vita.

"_Got it. I'm two kilometers out, don't be late!"_

"The two of you against the leader guy, alone?" Reinforce said.

"He won't stand a chance against us." Agito retorted. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"We can handle it." Signum said. "Vita will also be joining us."

"Right." Reinforce replied, darting out into the open window, and holding her arms to the side, eyes closed. "Frozen... Shroud…"

Instantly, the moisture in the air condensed around the Orks, forming a thick fog that hung around them…

"Go! I can't keep this up for very long…"

Signum did not waste any time – she hurdled over the windowsill, the broken glass harmless beneath her armor, and flew forward in a long ballistic arc, as quickly as she could manage. She landed in front of the Ork commander and his bodyguard, and readying Levantine as Agito zoomed up alongside her. The leader was surrounded by eight guards, a new rocket loaded into his weapon.

"Champion!" she shouted. "I am Si-"

The Ork leader contemptuously raised his gun and pointed at her. Signum reacted instantly, focusing energy in front of her as it fired the underslung missile laucher.

"Panzer Hindernis." Levantine said, the rocket detonating against the glowing barrier moments after it solidified.

"Lads, stomp 'im flat!" The leader said, and his bodyguards swarmed past him, roaring and firing wildly as they charged towards her. Signum readied her sword, but she didn't have the chance to use it – a bolt of scarlet streaked from the sky, crashing into the midst of the Ork bodyguard, sending a tuft of earth and rubble – and several Orks - flying skyward. The remainder of the half dozen smaller creatures with the Orks went scampering for cover, screeching all the way.

"Looks like you need help!" Vita shouted, smashing another of the Ork bodyguards back into the concrete as it began to rise. Most of the Orks, however, had quickly recovered. Signum couldn't help but smirk back at Vita, sidestepping out of the way as one of the bodyguards swung a massive motorized blade, of the sort more typically used to cut lumber. She darted to the side of her attacker, and slashed across its waist. It howled in fury and swung its weapon in a low sweep – Signum darted into the air over the blade, and slashed downwards, though the Ork's shoulders and chest. It slumped forward, and collapsed to the ground, as the Ork leader stomped towards the trio, firing continually in their general direction.

"Agito!" Signum yelled "Keep the rest of them off of us, while Vita and I engage the leader!"

"Alright!…" Agito said, with a groan of obvious frustration, offhandedly blasting back an encroaching Ork. Off to the side, Vita battered an Ork's legs out from underneath, launching it spinning into the air. Signum turned and flew towards the leader, darting to the side as it opened fire with its automatic weapon. She moved in a tight spiral around the Ork leader as she closed in. She landed beside it, swinging at the gun, but it jerked the weapon back, avoiding her blade. Signum reversed her swing, striking the Ork's metal-clad left arm. Apparently its armor was made of sterner stuff than the rust-speckled iron it seemed to be, since Levantine merely severed a hydraulic cable and gouged the metal structure. She was quite certain she had reached the creature itself though, but it didn't seem to care, or notice.

"I'm gonna make ya bleed, humie!" The Ork shouted, lashing out at Signum with its claw – she ducked, the pincer clacking shut close enough to snip off the end of her ponytail, and immediately counterattacked. Levantine detonated a cartridge as she swung upwards, tearing a gout in the front of the Ork's lower body armor. It howled, more in anger than in pain, and delivered a short, but surprisingly fast kick that hit Signum just below the knee – her armor was still strong enough it didn't hurt much, but it was enough to put her off balance for a moment. She stumbled back as the Ork leader drew his claw-equipped hand back for another attack…

Signum was still capable of dodging, but she didn't need to. Focused on her, the Ork didn't see Vita – who had apparently been tied up fighting her way through more of its guards, or the like – coming up behind it. Vita slammed Graf Eisen into the back of the Ork's head – admittedly through a fairly thick metal cage, but it still had enough for to stagger it for a moment, before it spun around, its swinging its pincer around in an attempt to seize the new attacker – aiming at the height where an attacker of normal height would be – which Vita was actually hovering **over**, interestingly enough. As it turned, Signum swung, slashing across its left shoulder armor and back in a long, if shallow, diagonal cut. Shallow everywhere except the protruding center of the back, which apparently had concealed some mechanism, for smoke and black liquid was now pouring out of the rent in its metal casing. That was the disadvantage of powered armor… and with luck, its failure was now inevitable.

The Ork didn't notice, didn't realize the consequences, or simply didn't care – it stepped back, raised its rifle, and poured a hailstorm of fire at Vita, who immediately brought up a shield to block it. At this range, even an Ork had trouble missing, but it extended Signum's opening. She swung at an exposed piston at the back of the Ork's leg, cutting a shallow gouge in its armor, but more importantly, severing the piston and sending yet more black hydraulic fluid spraying out onto the parking lot. It spun, its damaged leg lagging behind, and quickly turned its gun to bear on Signum. A dozen shells slammed into her armor – she felt a sharp twinge as one of them penetrated, and belatedly raised a barrier…

"Armor Integrity below 25 percent." Levantine noted, expending another cartridge to form a shield instantly. Signum strained to hold up the hastily erected defense as another dozen bullets slammed into it – the next moment, the Ork leader jerked back, Vita apparently having done… something to distract it. She seized her chance as its gunfire went wild, again aiming a blow for the weapon itself, and this time, she struck true, slashing off the bulk of both barrels, to say nothing of the ammunition chain – it **shouldn't** work now – and cut back across the front of its armor. Shouting, Vita charged up behind the Ork, striking its right arm, and scoring a significant dent in the armor, as it tromped around to face her.

Growling, it responded with a roar of "Youz broke my shoota!" – even though it had been Signum who had done that, not Vita, - and snapped its claw towards her. Vita shifted aside and evaded, while Signum checked her injuries. She was bleeding from the shoulder where it had hit her, but it wasn't very serious – at least as these things went. She recovered her bearing, and slashed a rent in the back of its waist armor, as Vita swung and caught around the side of the brow. The blow sent it reeling – it should have knocked out or quite possibly killed it, but it merely stumbled a few steps, and recovered.

"Don't you know when to give up!?" Vita shouted. "Raket-"

The leader's claw flashed out in a stumbling thrust and caught Vita – apparently equally surprised at its sheer durability – around the shoulders. Growling malevolently, it held her in its pincers, tightly enough she couldn't effectively counter. Signum slashed across its back, cutting another gouge in its rear armor, and again through the back of its upper right leg. That didn't stop it. The Ork slammed Vita against the ground twice and flung her aside.

"VITA!" Agito screamed in concern – understandable, but unnecessary, concern.

"_She'll be fine!" _Signum transmitted back – to Hayate as well as Agito, since she would be worried. _"Don't interfere!" _

The Ork was not the only resilient one around – it would take a lot more than that to seriously harm one of the Wolkenritter, although Signum felt the dull shock within her that meant Vita had fallen unconscious, at least for the moment. The Ork turned around, chuckling and generally self-satisfied. Signum, for her part, had a friend's honor to avenge. The Ork lunged into an abrupt forward slash of its claw, apparently attempting to seize her as it had Vita. She was prepared, though, and sidestepped the strike, slashed into its arm, and then reversed her swing across its chest armor. The Ork howled in pain and frustration, and slung its other massive fist down at Signum's back. She jumped back as its hand went down, the momentum of the blow dragging it into a leaning crouch. Immediately, she flew back to it, and cut across the Ork's chin, severing the front facial armor and part of the large red false jaw behind it. Even with a phase weapon, head strikes were more effective, and again, it reeled, leaning backwards.

"SCHWERT BLITZ!" Signum shouted, focusing all the power she could quickly gather through Levantine and detonating one of the cartridges. Aiming for one of the rents on the Ork's frontal armor, she jabbed her blade through its chest, and held there. The Ork roared in fury, grasping for her shoulder with its claw, as she detonated the remaining the cartridge, channeling yet more energy into her enemy. The pincers grasped at her shoulder, scratching through her weakened armor, but finally loosened as the Ork commander dropped to the ground, unconscious.

One of the small creatures yelped and ran out from behind an upturned car – Agito, immediately began summoning an energy sphere to strike it down, but Signum signaled her to stop with a raised hand. It was just gratuitous. The Orks closer to the building were nowhere in sight. With any luck, it would report the leader's defeat to the others, and they would be, as General Shendaler had put it, knocked of their balance… or quite possibly simply infuriated, but for now, Signum retrieved Levantine from where it was phased through the Ork's chest. It's injuries were probably not fatal, especially considering what she knew of Ork durability – she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but the amount of ire she would have attracted for finishing an unconscious enemy, hideous alien monster or not, made the question irrelevant. Perhaps someone could learn something from interrogating it.

For now, she had more important things to attend to – she flicked the few spatters of green-tinted blood off of Levantine, sheathed it, and sprinted to where Vita was lying face down on the pavement, where Agito was already waiting. As she suspected, Vita was already beginning to stir, and rolled onto her side as she approached.

"You're alright!" Agito exclaimed.

"Sleeping on the job again?" Signum said.

"Shut up." Vita said replied, a little less emphatically than usual. "It got lucky, that's all!"

Signum smiled and extended her hand, helping her smaller partner to her feet.

"So… it's dead?" Vita asked.

"No, just knocked out." Signum replied, before adding in transmission… _"Reinforce. Tell General Shendaler we've defeated the Ork leader."_

Vita balanced herself on Graf Eisen and pressed her other hand to her forehead. "You mean you were in phase mode the **entire time?**"

"Yes. The energy level is about the same."

"Not with these guys! It's like they don't even notice magical energy… but I've yet to see something that can ignore a warhammer to the face!"

"Except for him." Signum said, pointing to the downed general, and drawing a bandage dispenser from the storage compartment underneath her vest. "Hold still."

"He didn't ignore it." Vita noted.

"Indeed." Signum said, tying a bandage around Vita's arm. Her injuries weren't very deep, fortunately – her armor had been almost fully active when the Ork had seized her. "It just…"

"_I've transmitted your message to General Shendaler." _Reinforce transmitted to her. _"He says it'll probably be a while before any effects are noticed, but they're holding the line. What now?"_

"_Now…" _Signum replied. _"We wait."_


	6. Chapter 4: A Moment in the Eye, Part 1

Mid-Childa Linear Rail Network, Near Sky-Spine Mountains

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 241 kilometers south of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0947 Hours

The hover-train careened past wooded valleys, mist-cloaked mountain peaks, and rugged cliffs on either side, as Hayate stared at the mountains rolling by, her head in her hands. The view, at least, was pleasant, on a day that had few other redeeming factors.

They had won the battle for Whithaum, technically. Around ten minutes after Signum and Vita had defeated the Ork leader… whom, she thought off-handedly, was quite possibly somewhere on the train with them, the Orks had, as the General had hoped, begun to falter, and now were isolated on East Fork island - Shendaler's engineers had taken the liberty of demolishing the second bridge the hard way.

Still, Hayate felt like they'd lost – that she'd lost. Fifty seven members of her company were dead, over two hundred injured, **and** an Ork helicopter had crashed into their headquarters near the end of the battle, setting it on fire. By the time any fire suppression crews had got there, it had all but burnt down, along with nearly five billion CU worth of military equipment. Of course, that was just an inconvenience, and her unit was one of the least heavily hit. The 718th, a standard 785 person battalion, had taken over 447 casualties, most of its combat personnel. Several battalions had lost their commanding officers. Whithaum's battalion group was, overall, at around 40% combat effectiveness… and there were more Orks out there – she was certain of that.

And of course, instead of staying there, where she could potentially **do something**, Inspector Langley had politely bundled her into the first train to Clanagan, to face potential court martial for something no one felt like telling her about. Hayate didn't blame him, though. Whoever was responsible for this insanity, it didn't seem like he personally approved of it… but orders were orders. Whose orders remained a mystery.

The train curved as a particularly impassible ridge loomed upwards, and dove into a tunnel, shifting the view from the Sky-Spire Mountains to the vertigo-inducing flicker of safety lights against pitch blackness in an instant. Hayate blacked out the window, glanced at the display above – they were about a fifth of the way along the trip, with twenty some minutes left – and turned in her seat.

With her were three of the Wolkenritter – Zafira, Shamal, and Vita, plus Reinforce - Signum was back in Whithaum, in command of the 31st Company, helping to assist in post battle analysis, Agito with her.

"So…" Hayate began, not entirely sure what to say. "What do you suppose this is all about?"

"Well… I suppose a lot of people are afraid of you." Vita said.

"It's not so much you they're afraid of." Shamal said, "As much as it is us…"

"It's a conspiracy then?" Zafira replied.

"Of course it's a conspiracy!" Vita said. "What else would it be?"

Hayate nodded. She didn't **like** thinking that supposed allies were attempting to sabotage her, but it certainly seemed to be true, and it wasn't like she could think of a legitimate reason. The others seemed to agree as well.

"Do you know why they're doing this?" Reinforce asked.

"They're afraid of the Wolkenritter, obviously." Vita replied. "And maybe they should be…"

"Don't say that!" Hayate said. Zafira pointed at the recorder panel in the ceiling to emphasize the point, although Hayate's concern was less that someone would overhear them, and more the… general wrongness of the concept.

"Sorry, Mistress." Vita said. "I was just saying… whoever's doing this is going to find it a lot harder to take you down than they expect."

"That they are." Hayate replied, smiling. "Just don't start any riots while I'm not looking!"

She was still thinking about what she had first thought Vita meant - she wasn't a native, but Hayate had to admit she liked the Bureau… even if they had tried to kill her once – that was a rogue officer anyways. Personally, she owed them a lot, to be sure, but more than that, they had ended the Last Dimensional War, bringing peace and relative security to the war-torn expanse of known space, and done it all without sacrificing freedom or prosperity – the recent invasion only proved how dangerous the worlds could be.

"Yeah..." Reinforce added after a few moments. "But I meant… what are they saying Hayate did?"

"We don't know." Zafira said.

"True…" Shamal replied. "Inspector Langley wouldn't say, but I do have a theory."

"Alright, let's hear it." Vita said.

"For a section-sized combat unit, the maximum MPV is twenty-five million… Hayate, Rein, Vita and myself, plus Signum and Agito total twenty-two million by ourselves. Combine that with the rest of a combat section…"

"It's around forty million…" Hayate finished. "I suppose I should have seen this coming. They did say 'maximum priority', though."

"Well, it's still a stupid rule." Vita interjected. "What are they so paranoid about, anyways?"

"Supposedly it's to prevent commanders from competing too much over the best mages." Hayate said. "Still, I didn't worry about it. Every other time something like this has happened… I got a phone call from a personnel clerk and a deduction from my salary. I don't even know if you _can_ arrest someone for it."

At that moment, the train exited the tunnel as abruptly as it entered, revealing a small city receding into the misty valley below – Bretan, the info display above the window reported.

"You can arrest someone for anything." Shamal said. "The question is whether you can imprison someone for it."

"Well, let's look it up!" Vita suggested.

Shamal shook her head. "There's no Infotrack connection. At least, not that we can casually access. Still, if I remember correctly, not unless malicious intent can be proven."

"Well that's good!" Reinforce said.

"I could still be dismissed…" Hayate replied.

"Not a chance. You're too valuable." Vita said. "'Specially now. Plus, after Scaglietti, you're **famous**. There's no way they'd get away with that."

"Unless they revealed your past." Zaphira noted.

"Yeah…" Hayate said. The details about the Book of the Night Sky were of course classified, but among those who did know, her legacy had harried Hayate throughout her career… even though it wasn't her fault… or **either** of their faults, actually. It was… she didn't actually know whose fault it was, but no doubt they were long dead. It was almost a thousand years ago, nobody could live that long.

"Then they'd have to reveal that they made you a Colonel and didn't tell anyone, though, wouldn't they?" Vita suggested. "If they're so worried, that can't be good for them."

Err… wait, Hayate thought… they could live that long. Wonderful. If her luck kept up, he'd be showing up to cause yet more trouble soon… she wondered what had happened to… that person, and wondered if she should ask. It was a subject the Wolkenritter avoided talking about, but…

"But most of those people are friends." Reinforce said.

Maybe it was worth an answer. It was a simple enough question. "So… what happened to the person who created the Book of Darkness, anyways?"

There was a sudden silence, followed by awkward fidgeting. No one said anything for several seconds.

"We…" Shamal began, fidgeting some more. "We don't actually remember, really…"

"He's dead." Vita said. "He has to be. From what I recall. And he had it coming."

"Yeah…" Shamal added. Zafira nodded a second later. The room lapsed back into silence.

"So… how about those Shellfish!" Reinforce interjected.

The awkward silence was replaced by a confused silence.

"Best speedball team ever?"

"I think you mean the Spinefish." Vita said. "And no, they aren't."

The Spinefish were Whithaum's professional speedball team, and by coincidence, were actually fairly good, scoring 11th place in the All Mid-Childa rankings, at least last time Hayate had heard. She didn't really follow sports – neither did Reinforce, for that matter - she was more of a video girl, but Hayate appreciated the effort anyways.

"Anyways…" Hayate said. "I just… I'm not sure why I wanted to know, actually."

"Eh, it's alright. Just caught a bit by surprise." Vita said. "So… who says we talk about sports now!"

After that, the conversation did indeed drift into a near-argument between Vita and Reinforce over the relative merits of sports versus media. Hayate went back to melancholically watching the mountains go by, as the train accelerated out of the city, carrying her to a battle against the wrong enemy.

* * *

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7th Line Korp Headquarters, Temporary CI&E Center

West Central Mid-Childa, Rally Point AD, approximately 14 kilometers east of Fiene.

9-472-004M42

The day's battle had been a victory – and by no small margin. The psykers had been crushed. Casualty reports were in the area of under a thousand for the Imperium, and for the enemy, countless. A handful of vehicles had been destroyed, and several more damaged. Not a single Leman Russ deployed was out of commission. That was useful. On the other hand, the massive dropships they had deployed at the end had proven devastating – the Quartermasters weren't sure if _Hell's Postboy_ could be repaired with any degree of speed – and only one of the vessels had been significantly damaged, but granted it was a surprise. Next time they showed up… they'd get a surprise.

One final report reached Colonel Von Ferrograd as the Centaur neared its destination. _"All artillery batteries have been unloaded, limbered and are made ready for movement. With the exception of Missile Launcher Battery Aleph, as ordered."_

"Excellent." The colonel replied. "Advance to Rally Point AE. And as for battery Aleph, can you see the large structure east of here?"

"_Yes sir. It appears to be…"_

"I don't care what you think it is! Give them a volley, then reload two anti-ship torpedoes and one standard tactical warhead, and advance to Rally Point AE."

"_Fire mission confirmed. Launch countdown?"_

"Immediate!"

"_Yes sir. Glory to the Emperor."_

That would get the witch's attention, and more importantly, hopefully kill a few thousand of them. A few seconds later, the Colonel's vehicle ground to a halt. Commissar Einz lowered the rear ramp, and both of them exited in front of their temporary CI&E center. Another Commissar, Harrian, of 5th company of his own regiment, as well as Quartermaster 581-048-46923-25, awaited their arrival.

The Quartermaster snapped into a salute as they approached. "The machine has been purified… such as it can be… and it is ready for operation."

"Excellent." Commissar Einz replied. "We need the intelligence. Distasteful as it may be."

Colonel Von Ferrograd nodded. Distasteful it was… using the psyker's machines. Useful was yet to be seen. To his soldier's mind, it seemed pointless to try to converse with the enemy, instead of simply killing them, but perhaps the Commissar had something in mind.

"Let's do it, then." Harrian said, and headed for the largest of the tents.

Under her command, Fifth Company had surrounded a small unit of the enemy. Instead of fighting to the last, though, the cowards had simply given up. Perhaps they had thought that would save them – it wouldn't. But Commissar Einz saw fit to extract all possible information from them first, and requested that Fifth Company take them alive.

The two soldiers guarding the entrance to the tent stepped aside as the Colonel and the Commissars approached, the Quartermaster trailing behind them, and they entered the tent where the prisoners were kept, under heavy guard. One guard per ten prisoners would be acceptable in a situation such as this, but the captives were psykers, and thus, even disarmed and bound, dangerous. There were a hundred soldiers guarding thirty-some heretics.

The prisoners were gathered in the center of the room, in two rows facing away from each other, hands tied behind their heads. Apparently, their armor was part of their weapons systems in some unnatural manner; so they were now clad only in the uniforms underneath – brown double-buttoned jackets, with slacks for the men and open wraps for the… females. They all had insignia around the collar, and some wore silver shoulderpads. Clearly, this was not a breed accustomed to hardship.

Commissar Einz walked up to one of them, and turned to 581. "Is the machine operational?"

"Yes sir."

The Commissariat was responsible for War-Prisoners, on the few occasions the Guard needed them. Vincent decided to simply watch as the two of them did their work – not that he had much of a choice. Einz booted the prisoner in the knee. "You. Are you an officer?"

His voice was oddly distorted, as though transmitted over a Vox, and discomforting to listen to. The heretic seemed surprised they could understand each other for a moment, and then responded. "Private Levi Macchi, Serial GF-74…"

Einz drew his sword in a flash – an instant later, the man's head fell to the ground, the body spewing blood as it fell. Einz flicked off the blade, blood smoldering on its power field, sheathed it, and stepped to the next prisoner in line – one of the females… this should be easy… and repeated "Are you an officer?"

She hesitated for a second. Einz put his hand to his sword, and immediately, she gave in. "No! No I'm not! They all wear silver shoulderpads… gold unit badges…"

"Now…" Einz said. "That wasn't so hard."

He turned and walked towards the nearest silver-shouldered prisoner.

"Harrian." He said.

Commissar Harrian drew her pistol, and shot the woman in the head – the solid lasbeam burned through her forehead and out the back of her neck.

"You are an officer?" Einz asked.

"Yes."

"Excellent. I need to know the disposition of nearby forces. What are the defenses around the capital? How many regiments are present on this world?"

"And I tell you, you'll just… let us go?"

"Hardly." Commissar Einz said. He unsnapped his pistol, pointed it at the man's chest, and continued. "But it will be somewhat less painful that way."

At that, Einz fired a single shell, blasting open the man's chest. He fell to the floor, gasping in pain and blood soaking into the ground, and walked on.

Harrian ran up to his side, whispered something to him, and pointed at the other side of the group.

"Hmm…" Einz said. "So be it. I'll let you attempt it."

Commissar Harrian ran over to the other side of the ground of prisoners, and grabbed a seemingly random young female soldier from the line, dragging her to her feet.

"Alright, we do this the hard way." Einz said as she did so – translated, for some reason. "Quartermaster. Is the excruciator prepared?"

Einz gave the hand cipher for 'affirmative' before 581 could respond that there was such specific piece of equipment in their armory. He seemed to grasp the intent, and replied "Yes sir. Pain extractors at 100 percent."

"Excellent." Einz replied, and nodded to Harrian, who began dragging the young woman away. She took her as far as halfway to the exit before another prisoner called out.

"Wait! She's not an officer! She doesn't know anything!"

"And you do?" Harrian asked, turning back.

"Yes… I can help you."

"Captain, what do you-" One of the other prisoners began. Harrian's hellpistol burned a hole through his neck before he finished the question.

"Bring him!" Harrian shouted. One of the guardsmen grabbed the speaker, and the Commissars dragged the two of them outside. Vincent followed, Quartermaster 581 behind him. They took them some distance from the tent, called over a trio of soldiers – two held the girl, while the third kept a watch on the older one.

"Alright." Harrian said. "Talk."

"I have access to the military Infotrack Network. With my password, you can access it…"

"Don't… don't listen to them!" The girl stammered. Vincent scoffed. That **almost** qualified as courage. Harrian spun, and burned out her kneecap. Immediately, she half slumped over, but the two soldiers kept her standing up, and one clapped a hand over her mouth, silencing her scream.

"You bastard!" The man shouted.

"Talk!" Harrian shouted back.

"Okay! Just don't hurt my daughter! You can access it from any terminal – there's one every kilometer along the highway!"

"Good. The pass-code, now."

"Let her go, then I'll tell you… and don't hurt the rest of the men."

Commissar Harrian reacted with surprising, calm, running and retrieving a large shovel from the back of a Trojan carrier. She walked back, pressed her boot against the metal shovel, and broke off the handle, as all looked on in vague confusion. She walked up to the girl, and drew one of the Guardsmen's bayonets from its scabbard, and held it up to the girl's throat, sharp-ended stake in the other hand. Suddenly, she lowered the bayonet, and jammed in up through the girl's shirt.

For a moment, Vincent thought she'd stabbed her, but then realized that the Commissar had, for some reason, cut open the prisoner's uniform. She stepped back, and merrily twirled the broken shovel.

"Hold her still for a moment, would you please?"

"Wait!" The man replied. "I'll give you the code!"

"Good. But what guarantee do we have that it's the correct code?"

"Let my daughter go, and keep the rest until it works?"

"Excellent. Now the passcode."

"D481-L180-38… that's the first ten. Let my daughter go!"

A slow learner, this one. Harrian walked over to the female, and cut off her skirt with a dramatic flourish.

"Okay, okay! Z932-N533-03."

"About time." Harrian said. "Now run before I decide to stop you."

Vincent wondered what exactly she was thinking, and a glance at Einz told him her superior was wondering the same thing. Harrian grinned at him, and stuffed an unrecognizable object into the man's pocket.

"This is a communicator. If you're lying… I'll consider giving the rest of your men a second chance. Let him go!"

Commissar Einz shrugged. "I trust you know what you are doing." He said, untranslated. He was getting more lenient by the hour… but the Colonel thought it best not to chance it. "Do it!"

The guards reluctantly let go of the two prisoners, and they immediately ran off towards the edge of the camp, the older one helping the younger. Useless. If this world was worth anything, they would not make it far, but still…

"Harrian… what exactly are you doing?" Einz asked.

"You know what they say… First book of the Concordiam, Chapter 3, Verse 27?"

There was no slave, citizen, soldier or adept who was not familiar with that proverb. Commissar Einz nodded, reciting. "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."

"Indeed." Harrian pressed something under her coat, and the fleeing prisoners vanished in a burst of blue-white light, leaving nothing but a smouldering crater.

"So it is." Commissar Einz said. "Quartermaster! Find the… terminal… and extract everything to a data slate."

"But my lord… the spirits…"

Einz drew his pistol, pointed at the man's head, and fired. "Colonel. Find someone to extract the data."

Colonel Von Ferrograd nodded, and turned to find another Quartermaster. Meanwhile, Einz turned to Harrian and began saying something, rather tersely. An officer of another regiment might have been concerned, but even the officers of Krieg were soldiers, and knew their place. He had only his duties.

"What of the prisoners, Colonel?" One of the guards asked.

Vincent looked back to Einz, who nodded in confirmation.

"Dispose of them."

* * *

Harpin's Curve Salutary Hospital, City of Harpin's Curve

South-Central Mid Childa, 464 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0950 Hours

Subaru found herself staring upwards at an unfamiliar ceiling, her body aching and her mind all but exhausted. She was lying on a rough bed in a pale blue room, unadorned except for a thin line of mirrored glass around the top of the walls, and scented vaguely of lemons. To her right side was a window – it was now fully daylight, and the sudden brightness made Subaru's head hurt. She squinted and groaned softly, and moved her hand to cover her eyes.

"Ah… you're awake?" A man's voice said. She turned, to find a tall dark-skinned man in a lab coat standing over her, holding a datapad in one hand. She read the label on the breast of his coat – 'Harpin's Curve Salutary Hospital'

"Yeah…" Subaru replied, weakly.

"Good. I understand you have Caulen's Syndrome, so I'll need your consent to run some tests…"

The doctor thrust his pad towards her, a thumbprint scanner on the bottom, next to a large blue 'accept' button. Subaru didn't take it.

"I… I can't." She replied.

"I know that it may be uncomfortable, but it's possible that you have injuries I can't see unless I can do some scans. If they're not treated properly, you could, die, do you understand?"

"Yes… it's complicated." Subaru replied. She was a little worried, but she didn't feel too badly injured, and could always check herself once she was alone. More importantly, if she gave him permission, she'd never hear the end of it from the mysterious higher-ups in the bureau that complained about that kind of thing.

"How is it complicated?" The doctor asked politely.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not supposed to say." Subaru said. "Besides, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I'm not. You fell over nine hundred meters after an accumulator exploded in front of you, and walk away unscathed?""

"Actually, I didn't…" Subaru began – since she didn't recall walking away, but she was interrupted by a knock on the room's door.

The door was actually partly open, and she could see two people standing outside – a female Ground Forces officer and another man in a black business coat.

"Doctor Harpir?" The man in the coat asked.

"Uh… I'm with a patient at the moment…"

"Not for long." The ground forces woman replied. "Instructions were to take her to her Precinct medic…"

"The Precinct only has basic facilities! The hospital…"

"Has neither the authorization nor the ability to treat her." The coat-wearing man said; Subaru watching in surprised helplessness as the argument escalated. "Now, if you would kindly step aside…"

"I am trying to help her, and you're stonewalling me! Do any of you care about anything except…"

"I am certain that other patients need your assistance, doctor." The uniformed woman said "Suffice it to say that you are not cleared to see this girl's medical record, and thus unsuitable to treat her. Now get out, and perhaps we can help her."

The doctor glared a bit more, looking puffed up and apparently ready to continue, but he didn't.

"Okay. If that's the way it has to be." He said, and left. The man in the business coat shut the door after him.

"He was just trying to help…" Subaru finally said, feeling late.

"I know…" The woman said with a sigh – up close, Subaru had could see her clearly – she was about middle age, with black hair shorter than her own, and much smoother. "Captain Emelia Halstadt. Personnel Management, Special Circumstances Department…"

"Doctor Ryker, with SBC Bodytech." The man in the suit said, holding out a business card. "We make medicines, hospital equipment…"

"Cybernetic implants?" Subaru guessed.

"Cybernetic replacements, yes. That's my field of expertise, as you might have guessed. Now… are you feeling alright?"

"I think so." Subaru replied, nodding at his statement… but it was a lie. She didn't hurt anywhere, but she wasn't feeling alright. How could she be? She closed her eyes.

"_Secondary-level Activation, Serial 0-04, Code B-982."_

Subaru felt a slight shiver of energy in her chest as a myriad of information appeared, then quickly flashed out of sight. Her own voice eerily recited information too quickly for her to comprehend, then went silent as her pulse rate solidified in the lower-right corner of her vision. It was 56, normal enough.

"_Self diag… self-diagnostic."_

The information appeared superimposed on her closed eyes, and she felt a numb, electric sensation in her body, in the places it described. A few scrapes and bruises she knew about, but it seems as though she'd also twisted her ankle in the fall, and most critically (according to her systems), there was a hairline stress fracture in her left leg, due to be auto-repaired in 2 hours. Overall assessment, according to the computers – Condition Green.

"Yeah, I'm alright… did I really fall 900 meters?"

"Not sure…" Doctor Ryker said. "Let me double check that… don't shut down quite yet."

He pulled a chair up to a nearby table, unsnapped a huge old folding computer, and began working on it. The message "AUTHORIZED WIRELESS ACCESS, PORTAL 46159-105710-5610" flashed across the top of Subaru's field of vision. She shuddered involuntary – she wouldn't feel anything, but this always somehow felt unclean. Mary had done it before, and as far as Subaru knew, he could only access the cybernetic system's data, not **her** thoughts, but that didn't make it any less awkward. And now was the last time she wanted to deal with it.

"You're still using that relic?" Emelia asked.

"Heh… not all of us have intelligent devices, and this is the most portable processing power us mere mortals can get… actually, I think it might have **more** power... user power anyways."

"Uhm… speaking of which, how is Mach Caliber…"

"It's in the precinct house. The barrier system took a beating, but the core is only lightly damaged." Emelia said. "It's probably already repaired."

"Wish I could say the same for your precinct…" Doctor Ryker said. The "AUTHORIZED WIRELESS ACCESS" message went away, but Subaru had a feeling the next thing he said would be considerably worse. "Of the group that went in, there were only three survivors."

It was worse. She already knew… the mission was bad, but now… the failure had been even more her fault. If she'd been able to react more quickly, or do better, maybe more people would be alive. She felt a tear trickle down one cheek, then the other… it took a while before she said anything… or at least she thought it did.

"M… me, Mach Caliber, and… who?"

"Oh? I wasn't counting, er… your device. So I suppose that makes… five… no, four." The doctor said. "The other survivors were Officers Klein and Taylor. Both are in critical condition…"

The news that the chief was dead too, or maybe just the awkwardness of what he said, or maybe the fact she was somewhere angry that Klein had survived… on top of everything else, was more than Subaru could bear. She turned her head to the side, and cried into her pillow. It was stiff and scratchy.

"I know it's not much…" Emelia said "… but… I'm sorry."Doctor Ryker murmured something Subaru didn't understand… and she didn't really care right now. Emelia said something back, and the two of them started a conversation. Everything was in ruins again, but this time… over a dozen people dead... she'd… failed before, but this time, it was her Precinct, the people she'd been becoming friends with over the past months, who had suffered…

"You know what… I'm going to go get us some food… would you like some…or anything else I can get you?"

She **was** feeling a bit hungry, Subaru thought. She wiped her eyes, and realized… also… there was one other thing that she wanted…

"Uh… yeah, I'd like something to eat." She said, sniffing away tears. "And… I'd like to talk to my sister."

* * *

SWDC Intercept Network Operations Room, Ground Forces Command Center, 38th Floor

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan – Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0951 Hours

Working in the Strategic Weapons Defense Command was probably the safest, most boring job to ever qualify as part of the Armed Forces, and the news of an invasion hadn't changed that. Commander Allan Pulaski had been a member for thirteen years; the most exciting thing to ever happen was when Lira set the vending machine on fire. They did not so much have a mission, as the concept of a mission, which amounted to endless drills in preparation for an attack that never came.

Still, it was better than the alternative, and Allan hadn't joined the SWDC for the glory or the thrills. He had joined for the 650,000 caps a month, civil servant allowance in two more years, and, of course, 10% off at Sandwich Shack. With any luck, he'd complete his last two years without incident, collect his CSA, and get a job that didn't involve sitting around for hours on end locked in a tiny room with two only two other fools for company.

"Uh… Commander, sir, I uh…" Lira said, adjusting some buttons on her console to Allan's right. "I think I see something…"

On any other day he would have immediately dismissed it as a fabrication of Lira's overactive imagination. But considering the circumstances… maybe it wasn't… maybe there was some sort of attack coming.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure. But… yeah, there's definitely something there."

"Put it on the main display."

The giant holographic globe in front of Allan's desk zoomed in on the Clanagan region. A black icon indicating an anomaly flickered on for a moment, before vanishing again. A few seconds later, it appeared again, much closer.

"I see it… is an aircraft? A missile?"

"Whatever it is, it's not transmitting any identifiers… and it's fast…4000 kilometers per hour! It's on course for the command center! Yeah, it's cylindrical object, on low ballistic arc… no, two of them!"

"But is it a missile?!" Allan demanded.

"I don't know…" Lira said "I think so! ETA… thirty seconds!"

"What now!" Private Kilmeade, on Allan's left shouted.

For a moment, Allan hesitated, unsure. Then, he remembered the endless training, and drills he'd been sure were useless, and knew what he had to do. It was simple enough. First, he pressed the button on his console that would alert the rest of the building…

"Launch intercept, Array 17!" Allan commanded.

"Launch Two!" Kilmeade replied.

"Confirmed! On target, intercept time, 5 seconds…" Lira reported.

The red icons of the intercept missiles quickly closed with the two black anomalies… in an instant, they met… one of the red icons vanished; the other went wide, and began to turn… but both of the black icons kept going, although one seemed to slow down.

"It didn't hit!" Lira said.

"Uh…" Allan stammered "Fire again! Array 16, 17, 18, everything!"

"Launch Ten! Wait… multiple launch failures…"

"Reading seven successful launches, intercept in eight."

"Eight!?" Kilmeade shouted, "How did it get longer?!"

"They're past yellow line!" Lira said. "Sensors still can't identify them…"

The first intercept missile was showing no sign of reaching the two inbound missiles any time soon, and they soon streaked past the launching intercept missiles, which turned to chase…

"Fifteen seconds to impact!" Lira shouted. "Point defenses firing… one second to intercept!" The two red icons of their missiles vanished, and the other of the approaching missiles slowed. The other intercept missiles were still some time away… Allan wasn't sure if they'd even make it in time. Then, almost without warning, the second of icon of the approaching weapon blinked out.

"I think…" Lira reported. "It's gone! One of the attacking missiles destroyed! Detonation – Negative!"

"There's nothing left!" Kilmeade said. "I can't do anything!"

"Impact in 10 seconds… intercept in eight… seven, six, five, four, three…"

"_Emergency! Inbound attack!"_ The tower's communication system blared. _"All personnel, brace for impact!"_

"Two seconds! One!"

"Come on, come on, come on…" Allan whispered. "Come on…"

Two of the intercept missiles vanished as the rest streaked past… the black icon slowed, veering wildly, but remained. The other interceptors spiraled around, their targeters attempting another run…

"_BRACE!"_

The tower **lurched**, like the whole building had been shifted several paces. Allan fell forward onto his command panel; Lira flew out of her chair and landed sprawled beside her console. The tower continued to rumble, for what seemed like half a minute, before the shaking finally stopped.

"_Barrier Intact… retain Code-Red, all defense systems Standby! EMM Filters online… Capital Emergency Response crews deploy, severe damage to surrounding region."_

"Ugh…" Allan groaned, rubbing where he had slammed against his console. "Sensors… what's going on?"

"Hold on…" Lira replied, climbing back into her chair. "It looks like the blast… I'll try to recalibrate."

The main display reactivated, showing nothing but the SWDC insignia for a moment, before switching to a view of the surround area, flickering in and out. Allan couldn't see what was happening… the image was too indistinct. It flickered out one last time, then solidified.

The area around the Command Center was… Black Abyss…

* * *

Mid-Childa Linear Rail Network, Ground Forces Command Center Route

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan, Capital of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0954 Hours

The train slowed to a crawl as it approached the Ground Forces Command tower. Slower than it should, actually, maybe under a hundred kilometers an hour… crawl… it was funny, Hayate thought, that she'd once have considered a hundred kilometers per hour fairly fast. The others were still discussing the merits of various historical weapons – or at least, Vita and Reinforce were, with Shamal nodding and occasionally contributing a few words, while Zafira said nothing, staring ahead with an expression between boredom and non-concern…

Then, Hayate realized something was **wrong**… the cloud hanging over the city was too dark to be fog, and it was too late in the day in any event. She leaned to the side to try to get a better look, saw that it only became darker further in, and realized it wasn't fog, but smoke. She ducked down, looking as far upwards as she could, and couldn't see an end to it.

"What is it?" Shamal asked, shifting to the window to look out herself. "Oh… that's… that looks bad."

"Eh?" Vita said, also looking outwards, leaning over Hayate's lap as best she could without getting in the way. The smoke was now thick around the train, and Hayate could now see fires burning in the city.

"Whoa! Do you think they're here all ready?!" Reinforce said.

"Maybe." Vita replied. "Then at least we can worry about something **important**."

"I'm sure someone would have told us by now." Hayate replied, although she wasn't so sure.

"It looks pretty bad…" Reinforce noted, then flew to the opposite side window. "Not so bad on this side…"

At that moment, the train switched tracks, and began to travel downwards, away from the main line – for good reason, the upper track ahead been torn and cracked – there was no way it would survive a train – and in fact, it eventually crumbled away entirely.

The train lurched violently as it went underground entirely, heading into the subway lines before the ride smoothed out again.

"_Attention, this is your pilot…" came_ an announcement over the intercom. _"As you may have noticed, there has been an attack on the command center. We are now diverting to the service entrance, and will arrive in, uh, just around seventy seconds..."_

"So it was an attack!" Hayate exclaimed. It looked like they might have another battle to fight already… assuming it wasn't already over.

"What else could it be? An accident shouldn't cause that much damage." Vita said. "Unless it was something like a Relic, and that would just make our lives **too** interesting…"

"There was no sign of battle." Zafira suddenly noted. "No sound or flash of explosions."

"But that would mean it was an extreme-ranged attack..." Reinforce said. "Which means…"

"ACID weapons…" Hayate said. Area Civilian/Infrastructure Destruction weapons were the entire reason for the Energy Restriction Act, and arguably the foundation of the entire TSAB. And now, it seemed as though someone had detonated one on Mid-Childa… she was trying to comprehend the repercussions, and failing.

"That's not true!…" Shamal said, clearly trying to find a way for it not to be true. "Not necessarily… it could have been multiple attacks."

"I suppose." Vita said, livid. "Bastards… artillery is bad enough..."

"Come to think of it, it doesn't really seem like the Orks' style, anyways…" Hayate said.

"I saw some short range guns." Vita replied. "But nothing that looked like it'd reach this far."

The train slowed further – it was nearing the station.

"The section we were with was attacked too," Shamal added. "But the attackers were only a kilometer or so away."

Zafira nodded, as Shamal continued on. "It's strange, too, that the attack hit the west side…"

"It's probably not the Orks." Hayate said. "There was another invasion force… I think they did this."

"Two separate invasions on the same day…" Vita replied in disbelief. "…that's just stupidly unlikely…someone doesn't want us to get bored. "

The car rolled into wide open gallery filled with dull red light, and slowed to a stop with a hiss of venting coolant. A few small groups of soldiers ran up to attend to various tasks – two Enforcers ran up to guard the door to their car. Not long after, others began exiting the train, trying to find their bearings or heading off in various directions.

"We're here… but the door isn't opening." Rein said.

"Maybe we're waiting for Langley?" Shamal suggested.

"Yeah, but it's not necessary." Vita replied.

"It's just procedure." Shamal said, shrugging.

A few seconds later, though, Inspector Langley emerged from the adjacent car, surrounded by his Enforcer assistants, looking a combination of deadly serious and terrified – Hayate didn't blame them, considering the circumstances. Langley said something to one of the guards at the door, who jumped a bit, before turning to the door panel. Everyone stood in preparation to exit – the man hesitated for a second before opening the door, and Langley walked in, looking pale.

"Uh… Colonel Yagami."He said. "We uh, need you to come upstairs with us."

"What'sa matter, Inspector?" Vita said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Err… did you see what happened outside?"

"I did." Hayate said with a nod. "That's why I want to resolve this as soon as possible."

"Err, right, let's do this quickly, then…"

"_He must have heard our… conversation… earlier!"_ Shamal transmitted, obvious concern in her 'voice'.

Hayate made the connection in her mind, and responded. _"Mm-hmm… that makes sense. Don't worry about it, though."_ So much for discretion in his case, although it would no doubt be an interesting experience when he tried to report his discovery to his superiors.

Inspector Langley didn't say any more – just led the group out into the station, surrounded by three times their number in Enforcers. Hayate had never been in this part of the Ground Forces Command Center – the room was tall, some ten meters high, and roughly rectangular, about a hundred meters deep and thirty-five meters across, with the tracks running down the center, and stacks of crates on either side of the room, waiting to be taken up by huge cargo elevators. Langley led the group up onto one of the walkways that crossed the room, providing access to the platforms for the other two tracks, as well as the personnel elevators leading to rest of the facility. The Inspector led them to the latter, everyone silent and very serious – there didn't seem to be anything to talk about – and waved a small rectangular object in front of the door controls. When the door opened a few seconds later, he wordlessly gestured for them to enter, and Hayate and her companions did. The Inspector and his escort waited outside.

"You're not coming with us?" Hayate asked.

"No. I uh… the elevator will take you where you're needed… sorry."

The door closed abruptly, and the floor shifted as the elevator began to move. This one, for whatever reason, didn't have a location tracker, so there was no way to tell where they were, or where they were going. Perhaps it was designed especially for transporting prisoners. Or perhaps the car was just an older model. The elevator moved up to the nearest transfer level, and shifted to the central shaft – the Ground Forces Command Center was too massive and irregular a structure for a conventional system – after which it began to rise… and rise… and rise…

"Geez… did they take us to Childa Cord by mistake?" Vita asked after about thirty seconds.

"This is an old elevator." Zafira observed. "It is likely slower."

"Or maybe we're just going really high up!" Reinforce exclaimed, her usual excitement resurfacing.

"Yeah, like I said." Vita replied. "Though the Cord at least usually has seats… and windows."

The elevator began to noticeably slow, as they neared their destination. Around the two minute mark, the doors opened onto a small observation deck, the silvery cloudscape above Clanagan visible beneath the windows on the outer edge marred by a towering column of black smoke. Hayate ran out of the elevator, and leaned into the window for a better look.

A dark pillar rose up out of the clouds, the dust, smoke and debris spreading out into a flat plateau around the tower some thousand meters below. It was a shape she recognized instantly, even if she'd never seen anything like this scale. She was surprised by how slowly the mushroom cloud had to be moving… the attack couldn't have occurred less than five minutes ago, or they should have felt it, but she doubted it could be much older. Hayate couldn't see the state of the city below the cloud, but didn't imagine it would be anything but devastated.

Shamal walked up beside her, looked down at the devastation, and began quickly whispering in Belkan. "Those that have fallen this day, in hope that they might find peace, I give my sorrow and prayer…"

"Somebody's gonna pay for this." Vita murmured.

"May the honored dead take their place along their ancestors, as it was in the beginning, so as it shall be in the end..." Shamal finished, lowering her head. "I never thought… this would follow us here."

Hayate found herself at a loss for words – so she didn't say anything, just put her hand on Shamal's shoulder. It was a silly gesture, really, but it was all she could give.

"I… It's alright." Shamal said, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "I've… seen worse."

"Actually…" Vita said, her voice still a low growl. "I've probably done worse… but…"

"That was back then!" Reinforce said, finishing Vita's sentence for her. "Now… we stop them."

"_Lieutenant Colonel Yagami." _A strange voice called out over the intercom – it sounded almost, but not quite, like an AI's. It had the artificial sound to it, but lacked the typical broken rhythm... _"Please enter the meeting room on the other side of the observation level."_

That brought Hayate back to her immediate predicament. What had happened was terrible enough, that she might possibly be unable to help, lose her commission or even be imprisoned because of some bureaucratic error… was simply absurd. She sighed, shaking her head, and pressed a hand to her brow; then spoke softly. "…I'd probably better go."

"I'll go with you!" Rein exclaimed. "I think… actually, we'll all go with you, right?"

The others all nodded in agreement – Hayate couldn't help but smile slightly, as she stepped away from the window and began to walk around the observatory.

The group reached their destination not much later, a massive door in the central column, flanked by two of the Congressional Honor Guard, standing at attention – Hayate had never actually seen one in person, and they were impressive figures.

One of them was a man, and one of them was a woman, both standing a little under two meters tall; with barrier jackets in the shape of silver bodysuits under a silver jacket, with golden armor plating around their waists, shoulders, knees, ankles and other joints – that didn't quite seem to actually touch their bodies. Each one held an S-18 device – or I-18 device, more likely, and had a longsword strapped to their waists, along with a pair of needle pistols – a rare and otherwise illegal weapon – not that they needed it. Their presence was surprising, and more than a little worrisome – if they were here... then perhaps a Delegate was inside?

Hayate wondered, again, what exactly she could have done that merited _that _much attention as the woman turned towards the group and asked "Which one of you is the Lieutenant Colonel?"

"I am." Hayate replied.

"Good, please step inside. The council wishes to speak to you."Hayate swallowed. A step up from the Dimensional Congress, in a sense – the fifteen men and women that oversaw the operations of the entire Bureau system… here? Well, at least the situation would become a priority very quickly… she stepped in front of the door.

"We're ready."

"Sorry, your companions will have to stay behind." The male Honor Guard said.

Reinforce jerked back almost as if struck, confusion and disappointment on her face. Vita fumed, crossing her arms and looking like she wanted to say something, but was barely restraining herself.

"It's alright… I'll be fine." Hayate said. She would certainly have preferred to have her friends with her, but it wasn't worth starting a fight about it. The Honor Guard nodded, and the door between the two of them slid open, into an apparently dark chamber. Strange… but Hayate obeyed and walked into the room.

The door swiftly closed behind her, leaving her in total darkness for a moment, before a series of lights activated along a walkway towards a small platform in the center of an open shaft. There weren't even any railings along the platform - it looked ridiculously unsafe, and made Hayate glad she could fly. She walked out towards the platform, searching for any sign of other people – there was none. Vita was yelling something about wasting time on the other side of the door – Hayate sighed and walked on, feeling a little sorry for the guards.

When she reached the central platform, the lights on the bridge behind her went out – there was a whirr of machinery, then all sound cut out, except the steady thrum of power from somewhere down below. The lights changed, showing only the outline of the central platform - had the bridge retracted? She wondered what the point of this whole exercise was…

A monitor flashed into being in front of her, followed by another on her left… and another on her right. Each one was some three meters tall and angled down on her; a blue screen with the TSAB emblem in the center, with text superimposed over it – ARMED FORCES HIGH COUNCIL, with a number below that in huge 'roman numerals'

"You are Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami?" The same synthetic voice as she had heard before said, the forward monitor, number one, flashing as the voice spoke. Hayate guessed it was him, or it, that was speaking. She nodded in response, and the voice continued on. "Welcome. We have heard much of you." This was definitely odd. Filter systems like this weren't generally used unless the speaker wanted to disguise their identity. There was no reason the council would do that, unless… she'd worry about that later – for now, she saluted and stood at attention. Something was odd, but she'd still follow etiquette... at least until she knew for sure.

"At ease, Colonel." The speaker on the right, number three, said – the same style of synthetic voice, although understandably different.

"Quite, this is not a formal affair." The final monitor, two, added. Hayate dropped the salute and relaxed her stance, still wondering what exactly was going on, but had a fairly wild idea. She had thought it was another wild conspiracy theory, but the evidence was in front of her…

"You know why you have been called here?" Number Three asked.

"No, I don't." Hayate replied. "May I ask something?"

"Yes, although we may not answer." Number One said. "What do you want to know?"

What she was about to do was risky if they were really the Council, and perhaps riskier if they weren't, but Hayate felt she had to try. "You're not really the High Council, are you? At least… not officially. I've heard rumors… about a group of high ranking officers with influence over the armed forces. You are that group, aren't you?"

"You are out of line, **girl.**" Number Three said, anger and contempt obvious behind the synthetic tone. Still, there was nothing it could do to her, here – at least directly. And if she was right, he likely wasn't in her chain of command. If she was wrong… well, maybe the rest of the Council would appreciate her caution, it was a strange situation, after all.

"Oh? And what makes you think that?" Number Two asked, in a decidedly different tone.

"You're using contact screens. There's no reason for the High Council to do that. From your numbers, your voices don't correspond with the three most senior council members, even remotely. The chair of the Armed Forces High Council is a woman, after all. If you were the high council, there'd be no need for all this secrecy… in fact, I think you'd want me to be certain who you are… by using your authorization codes, for instance. Lastly, you'd have remembered to say my name in the correct order."

"But it is in the correct order." Number Two replied. "All official names are in the same format, personal name, then family name. You know that… do you not?"

"Yes, I have gotten used to it… but I've met with the Council before, and when I did, I still used Japanese order, and they agreed to refer to me that way, and have ever since, in the letters their office sends me. You… did know about that, right?"

"The Lieutenant Colonel is audacious." Number One said, which was not a response. "And quite clever. Important characteristics."

"**Too** audacious." Number Three said, still not responding. "Possibly dangerous."

"In a manner completely unrelated to her, ah… previous status, though. Dangerous is useful. Clearly, she is not intimidated by shows of force."

Hayate wasn't so sure of that last part, herself – the invaders' show of force outside scared her. More immediately, she found herself wondering if they had forgotten she was actually present.

"I am confident in her nature." Number One said. "You are correct."

It took Hayate a second or so to realize 'you are correct' was directed at her. "I… I am?"

"Yes. We are not the High Council proper, merely… messengers." Number Two said. "An… organization dedicated to ensuring the survival of the Bureau, and with it, civilization itself."

"I see." Hayate said, still somewhat skeptical. None of the stories she had heard were that friendly. But then, people also thought that the Bureau was spying on them with telepathic satellites. "I heard something like that. I also heard you were all killed during the Jail Scaglietti incident."

"Even if it were true… The Bureau is an idea, and you cannot kill an idea. Death and fate mean nothing to us." Number One said.

"You cannot believe every rumor that you hear, can you?" Number Two echoed.

"Okay, one more question…" Hayate continued. "Did you order my arrest?"

"Everything we have done, we have done to ensure the future of the Bureau." Number Three said.

"Furthermore, your arrest was not made on our authority. Surely, you have theories." Number Two added.

Hayate nodded – she certainly did have theories. She wasn't going to rule out this group, though, that was for certain.

"Your destruction does not interest us." The first one said. "We intend to help you."

"Still, if you called me here, you must have something in mind."

"Indeed. As valuable as you are, you nevertheless have an extensive history of MPV limit violations…" Number One said.

"These limits are crucial to the maintenance of our way of life. Without them, our society would decay into a perpetual arms race with itself." Three said.

"Nevertheless, the charges will be dropped…" Two Said

"That's good to hear." Hayate replied – it was good news, but she was sure they wouldn't have summoned her here for that. "I'm sure there will be a lot to do. I saw what happened outside, and I want to get work as soon as possible."

"Certainly." One said. "You may, once arrangements have been for transfer. In addition to the dismissal of the charges, a command has been found for you."

"A Special Defense Division is being formed in response to the invasion." Three continued before she could respond "You will command Battalion Group C of Mobile Brigade West."

"I… thank you…" Hayate said, shocked. This was the **last** thing she expected to hear… and it couldn't really be called anything but good news, and yet… she wasn't quite ready to leave her old post. Especially not at the will of this… shadow council.

"I appreciate your confidence, but I'm happy where I am…" She said.

"Are you unfamiliar with the concept of military service?" Three snapped.

"Is that so? Your unique talents are hardly used to their fullest extent in your current position… both your… ingrained… abilities and your natural intelligence." Two said.

"It is a temporary assignment. But the decision is made, and we cannot countermand it." One said. "We can, however, arrange a staff position for one of your…"

"Friends." Two finished.

"I suppose, if it's temporary." Hayate began, and then caught what the first of the men behind the screens had actually said. "Wait… what do you mean **one?**"

"One. Singular." Three retorted. "It is a basic concept."

That one was beginning to try her nerves. More importantly… were they really saying what they seemed to be?

"You don't… you couldn't really want to separate us… Admiral Leti said that…" Hayate stammered.

"We are aware of Admiral Leti's instruction." Three said. "It has been reconsidered."

"Ground Forces High command has suggested that in this scenario, your expertise is best put to use independently." One replied.

"We have no interest in disrupting your personal relationships." Two said "Furthermore the situation is temporary… think of it as a learning experience."

Hayate stood silently for a moment; more angry than sad, wondering what to think, let alone say. She didn't trust these people, and certainly wasn't going to accept something like this without at least **some **fight.

"Okay." Hayate said. "I understand what I have to do. However, that doesn't mean I'll like it, and I don't believe you're not doing this because you're afraid of me."

She held her arms open wide – the effect was a lot more eerie in the dimly lit chamber than she expected, but she wasn't concerned.

"There's no need to be. I'm doing my best to help, and I try to be a good person. Which is why I'm going to do this, even though I don't like it, since its temporary. Once it's over, I want to be transferred back to my unit."

"You overestimate yourself, Lieutenant Colonel. You do not frighten us." Three said, his screen flickering out.

A strange, crackling sound echoed from the screen on the left – number two. Hayate realized, after a moment, that it was laughter. Then, that screen blacked out too, leaving her alone with the first, directly in front of her. Of course, the others might still be listening.

"Trust or not, this has all been pre-arranged. There is only one matter left to settle."

"What is that?" Hayate asked.

"There is a staff position for one of your friends… any qualified person you desire, in fact."

"So you're making me choose?!" Hayate yelled.

"We are giving you the **opportunity**to choose." Number One corrected. "We can make a decision for you, if you wish."

"You won't need to do that!" Hayate snapped – she didn't, however, know what to do herself. It was a cruel decision to force her to make, but she certainly wasn't going to let someone else make it for her. She wondered what criteria to use for a while… since it was a temporary reassignment, though, and she could still be in contact, she would go with a practical decision. That still didn't make it easy, but ultimately, there was really one best choice. She made her decision before she had time to regret it. "Reinforce. My senior non-commissioned officer."

"I see." The shadow councilor said. "The same position?"

"Yes." Hayate replied, nodding.

"Very well. I will make the arrangements. There is a briefing at Conference Room 217 on Level 650, at 0950 hours. You are dismissed. We look forward to your results."

The last display vanished, leaving Hayate alone in the eerily melodramatic chamber, as the lights indicating the exit returned. She walked hesitantly towards the door, acutely aware of the echoing of her footsteps – the fifteen some meters to the doorway seemed like a kilometer.

The door snapped open as she came close, revealing her friends sitting on a bench half a meter from the window. Vita and Zafira immediately stood up, Reinforce rose to head level.

"So…" Vita said. "How bad is it?"

"Yeah, you were in there for a while…" Reinforce added.

Hayate sighed deeply, looking at the ground. This would be awkward…

* * *

Kuran's Island Quarantine Zone, Staff Wing, Apartment B-27 

Central Mid-Childa, 153 kilometers northeast of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0955 Hours

"… reports are still coming in from all over the Fiene region; citizens unwilling or unable to evacuate coming under attack by these unidentified attackers, everything… just, total destruction in the area, our correspondents are unable to get anywhere near the city. From these images recorded earlier in the day, though, the destruction is absolute…"

The recorder panned across the burning wreckage of several buildings, their windows all shattered and holes torn in the superstructure. Another explosion detonating off to the side, as a few squads of Ground Forces soldiers ran across the parking lot in front of the building.

Master Sergeant Ginga Nakajima shrunk the image into a corner of her variable display, leaving the rest as a mirror. She almost regretted turning on the news – it wasn't a great way to start the day, really.

"We don't have a definite number of casualties, but preliminary estimates are over two hundred thousand… Bureau forces have fallen back, but report that they were successful in allowing most of the citizens to evacuate… TSAB officials have promised to explain further at a 10 AM Press Conference, until then, Rescue Services advise you to remain calm, avoid the Fiene area and the affected area in Clanagan or leave in an orderly fashion, and report any sightings of unfamiliar soldiers or vehicles immediately."

Ginga hurriedly dried herself off – she wanted to be ready for whatever might happen as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the newscaster began a description of the invaders, the image showing a group of unconscious or dead men in armored grey uniforms and face-covering masks, as the recorder operator walked among the bodies.

"This is our only image of the attackers themselves – getting close enough to provide more proved far too dangerous. Thus far, it is unknown what, if any, state they represent, and Bureau authorities refuse to speculate at this point. It is only known that they appeared near Zolice late last night, and moved south, and thus far have failed to respond to any attempt at communication. Again, we are waiting for more information at the press conference in thirty minutes. Our military correspondent, Amela Hansen, is already…"

Ginga retrieved her uniform from the closet – instead of the casual clothes she conventionally wore – and turned off the news cast entirely. If there was something for her to do, she would no doubt be told about it in a more accurate fashion. Until then, there was no use in fretting about it. In any event, others around the Zone would no doubt be watching the same news. She had her uniform on, and was in the process of hurriedly brushing her hair, when the variable display began to indicate an incoming message. She expected that, under the circumstances. She didn't expect it to be a personal call, especially from an unrecognized address.

"Hello, Ginga Nakajima…"

"Gin-ee!" Her sister's voice called out to her.

"Hey, Subaru." Ginga replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… not really… I'm not hurt." Subaru replied.

"That's good…" Ginga said. "You sound upset, though… where are you?"

"A hospital… in Harpin's curve... the doctors say I'm okay, so don't worry about me."

"You were hurt?!" Ginga exclaimed. "What happened?!"

"We went to a call at K3... and when we got there, there were these… weird green people everywhere, and the reactor was broken…" Subaru said, sobbing. "…they killed Lesli, and the Chief, and… everyone! I couldn't…"

The invasion had caught up with her younger sister already… Ginga didn't know what she was going through exactly, and didn't want to, but she knew her sister was in pain, and wanted to hold her hand, embrace her like she had when they were young… to do something, anything... but what could she do? She wasn't really a therapist, even if that was what she was doing lately… she didn't know how to handle herself in this situation… she wasn't even as strong as Subaru, after all…

"I… I couldn't do anything." Subaru stammered.

"I'm sorry." Ginga said "…I don't know how I could help, but… I'll do anything I can."

She couldn't see her sister's face – the connection was voice only, for some reason – but she could hear Subaru's tears cease.… "Thank you… sis…"

Ginga nodded, pointlessly, and brought up the first thing on her mind.

"So… you're on a hospital connection, I guess? Then, uh… is Mach Caliber okay?"

"She was hurt too… but Emelia said she'd be okay…" Subaru replied, sadness still obvious in her voice – but no longer crying. No one could blame her…

"That's good, at least." Ginga replied. She didn't really want to press further; even if she probably should… still… even if she might be weak… she should have strength enough for this!

No… it was probably better to be gradual, indirect - anyways…

"You mentioned someone called Emelia… who is she?"

"A captain in the Ground Forces… she's nice, I guess." Subaru said, "She bought me food! And she's going to buy lunch for me too!"

"Ah, I hope she brought enough money." Ginga replied – all cyborgs required significantly more energy than humans; and thus, needed to eat extraordinary amounts of food. Yet another inconvenience, although comparatively minor, next to…

"Hehuh…" Subaru laughed feebly, mercifully interrupting Ginga's thought process. "I really don't wanna eat too much right now."

"You probably should, though… you were hurt, weren't you? You need to heal."

At that moment, another message arrived – text only, for some reason. Ginga ignored it for the moment. "Ah! I'm sure you'll get off-duty time even in this situation, so… would you like to come here and stay with me and the ladies for a bit?"

"I'm not sure if that'll happen…" Subaru said "but if I can… I'll certainly come."

"You haven't got to talk to the others much, yet, Subaru?"

"No… I haven't. I guess I'd like to, though. I'll try to be a little less upset, eh?"

"It's okay to be upset." Ginga replied – she still was, after all. "It'd be stranger if you weren't, actually."

"Right… anyways, Doctor Ryker says we should go to the precinct soon… the hospital staff is getting angry…"

Ginga wondered who exactly Doctor Ryker was and what he had done to make the hospital staff angry, but elected not to ask. Instead, she continued the conversation.

"Alright. I'll see you soon. And… for what it's worth… I'm sure you did everything you could."

"Yeah…" Subaru replied, obviously thinking the same thing Ginga was. "I'll call you when I get to the precinct, okay?"

That last comment was foolish… Of course Subaru had done everything she could…– Ginga thought, stiffly slinging her turquoise sash over her shoulder. That was the problem. Her 'everything' wasn't enough. **She **should know that, of all people. Feeling bitter, she went back brushing her hair out, and opened the other message she had received.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. The message was baffling in its simplicity… only one line…

[FROM: General Shoban Dayvor, Ground Forces Striker Command]

[TO: Master Sergeant Ginga Nakajima]

[READY YOUR FORCES FOR ACTION – YOU WILL BE CONTACTED FOR EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION]

Sure, it was completely clear what it meant, but at the same time… utterly insane.

This was going to be interesting to explain.

* * *

Decryst Enforcer Branch Office & Aerial Base, Decryst

Central Mid-Childa, 396 kilometers northwest of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0957 Hours

Enforcer Captain Malcom Osterfeld – he'd introduced himself – paced across the briefing room, looking out over the assembled group. Two more people walked into the room – one a young Enforcer woman, the other an older man in civilian clothes - a warrant employee. The woman saluted, the man just took a chair.

"Very well… since we're **almost **all here, I'd like to start the briefing now… if you don't mind, Agent Harlown."

Fate nodded. It was certainly unusual that she would receive another mission so soon. Her back was still painfully sensitive from the burns, despite the gel laden bandages; and she had few other slight injuries – Shario had been particularly concerned about a small scratch on her right cheek, covered by an adhesive bandage – but, it was nothing she couldn't deal with. She wouldn't have tolerated the recommended medical leave – a few days for what amounted to a sunburn – but she hadn't expected to immediately be transferred directly to Decryst's Enforcer base, and sent on an indeterminate mission with what looked like a fairly large compliment.

"Excellent." Captain Osterfeld said. "I'm sure you're all wondering what you're here for. As you all know, at approximately 1922 hours yesterday, Agent Harlown here encountered enemy forces, which had already totally destroyed the city of Zolice, and have since moved on to attack Fiene…"

The captain snapped his fingers, and a large monitor appeared in the center of the room, showing what Fate suspected was a recorder feed from Bardiche or Cross Mirage – a series of images of the Krieg forces firing on the helicopter, then of the… massacre… in Zolice. Several Enforcers recoiled in disgust and shock, a murmur running through the room.

"At the time of their arrival, there was an intense disruption of all sensor systems – including visual scanners – just north of Zolice, due to an unexplained interference. However, it has since dissipated, revealing…"

Again the captain snapped his fingers, a new image replacing the one on the monitor, as that monitor shrunk to the side. The new image zoomed in from orbit, onto a gigantic black, scorched gouge through the countryside. It zoomed in from that, onto... a metal wreck of some kind, difficult to distinguish through smoke and remaining interference… but clearly large, judging only from the scale indicator.

"A starship?!" Shario exclaimed, half-standing from her seat next to Fate – along with several others.

"Yes. Of a design unrecognized by any of our records. And absolutely massive." The display shrunk again, calling up an image of the ship itself – it looked more like a box with a pointed front than a typical starship; studded with various protrusions, and it's rear lined with dozens of cylinders. "Approximately 1850 meters long and 400 meters tall. We aren't even able to begin internal scans, due to… what is believed to the residue of its dimensional drive, and it's incredibly thick hull – at least five meters, in most places."

"So, we're going to investigate this starship?" Fate guessed.

"Correct. We are almost certain this ship is how the invaders – at least those in the west – reached Mid-Childa. The Enforcers' role in our defense includes intelligence gathering, since this is technically a 'domestic' incident. As such, your mission is to secure this starship and examine its technology. With any luck, you'll learn more about their capabilities, or at least prevent the enemy from using any remaining resources. Perhaps, you'll even discover some kind of weakness."

"We don't expect heavy resistance, but we can't be certain of anything. Agent Harlown will lead the force; I will oversee the operation from here. You'll reach the starship by helicopter, which will also remain to provide support and evacuation. You have support from two specialists – Doctor Orville Tranter, Technological Anthropologist, and Shario Finieno, Agent Harlown's aide, a technician with specialty in military technology. I shouldn't need to say this, but keep them alive."

Shario glanced at Fate, her expression halfway between shock and concern. It was her first field mission that might reasonably see combat. And the last time she had been in battle, it… had not gone well.

"_Don't worry… I don't think anything will happen." _Fate told her telepathically, _"If it does, stay close to me. You'll be safe."_

Shario nodded, as Captain Osterfeld continued.

"…if the vessel is occupied, you are to fall back immediately, whereupon… we'll review our options. If all goes wrong, the _Hetaconchires_ is on station to suppress the target – the area is largely evacuated of civilians… but obviously, we don't want that. In any event… we're almost ready. If you've noticed, Harlown's other aide is unable to fight, so we've enlisted a collaborator to take her position…"

"Not sure that's a good idea, Captain." One of the other Enforcers suggested. Judging from his uniform, he was a lieutenant, and would be leading one of the teams. "An inexperienced recruit would just be a danger to themselves… and everyone else."

Fate wouldn't say it that bluntly, but it was a good point. She could keep Shario and the other… Dr. Tranter – safe, but they were needed for the mission. "It's okay… it may be safer to go with one less person."

The captain sighed and put his fingertips to his forehead. "Did I say anything about inexperienced? She's uh… not exactly new at this. You've… worked with her before, Agent." The captain snapped his fingers again, and the door slid open.

Fate didn't expect to see the person behind it – but it was a pleasant surprise. From the tone of amazement running through the room, the rest of the group was far from disappointed as well.

"Is… is that who I think it is?"

"I heard she destroyed the Saint's Cradle by herself!"

"Hi, Fate." Nanoha Takamachi said, returning Fate's gaze and smiling. Fate, for her part, stepped forward and embraced her, her first and closest friend.

"I'm glad to see you." Fate said, holding her close.

"I am too." Nanoha replied. Fate released her, and stepped back. Nanoha was a few centimeters shorter than herself, and only a bit larger than Fate's thin frame, but she had a way of filling a room disproportionate to her size, even without her reputation; everyone in the room was focused on her.

"Captain Takamachi." Captain Osterfeld said. "Or is it Temporary Mage Takamachi? …Glad you could make it."

"It's no problem… when I heard the news; I couldn't wait around doing nothing." Nanoha said. "I'm happy to have some way to help."

"Alright then… I know you all love hour-long briefings, but we really don't have much information for you. You know your squad assignments…" Captain Osterfeld said. A few Enforcers stood, discussing things among themselves.

"Hey… I'm in Takamachi's squad. Awesome!" The same young female enforcer who had entered with Dr. Tranter exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah good for you… I feel superfluous now." A different nearby Enforcer commented.

"…Well we don't have all day! Get to it!" Captain Osterfeld yelled, and the crowd gradually began filing out and heading towards the helipads, Nanoha and Fate included.

"How did you get here so quickly?" Fate asked – she wasn't suspicious, she couldn't have been happier to have Nanoha with her, but she was curious, and they were in different squads, and thus, helicopters. There was no sense in causing too much transmission interference…

"I'm on sick leave from the Aerial forces." Nanoha replied, dabbing her nose with a tissue (probably from a pocket dispenser) as if to emphasize the point. "So I looked up where you were, and Enforcer Captain Osterfeld was nice enough to recruit me as a 'civilian collaborator'."

Fate nodded. That explained why she was wearing civilian clothes – a white blouse and khaki faux-corduroy pants – instead of her uniform. She always wore white.

"I heard Teana was hurt… will she be okay?" Nanoha asked.

"She was still unconscious when I left the shipyard." Fate replied. "The doctors said they'd have to perform surgery… possibly organ replacement… but she'll almost certainly recover."

"That's good to hear." Nanoha replied, sounding somber. They continued in silence for a while. Teana had been hurt badly, and Fate hadn't wanted to leave her alone – they weren't deeply close friends, but she felt she owed it to her. But she had no choice, anyways, and maybe she could be there when she recovered…

Speaking of leaving people alone, a stray thought crossed Fate's mind as the two stepped out onto the helipads.

"Uhm… one more question?" She said.

"Mm-hmm…"

"Where's Vivio?" Fate asked.

"Oh, she's with the Training Company. Sigel said he'd find something for her to do…"

"You just… left… her?" Fate said, sighing.

"Well, uh… she usually stays there on days school is out, so she's used to it! Besides, we can pick her up later!" Nanoha said, running off towards her helicopter.

Fate sighed again, shaking her head, and stepping up onto the nearby JF-704's boarding ramp. Nanoha could be so rash sometimes. Vivio probably would be okay, but it was the principle of the matter.

She was right in one thing, though. No matter what, they'd be back later. Vivio needed someone to keep Nanoha's wilder impulses in check, after all, and she wasn't going to get Nanoha get hurt either. In any case… it wasn't time to think about that.

It was time to complete her mission. The last Enforcer in her squad entered, and the rear door slowly began to close. Fate took her seat next to the door, and buckled herself in for take-off…


	7. Chapter 4: A Moment in the Eye, Part 2

Harpin's Curve Salutary Hospital, City of Harpin's Curve

South-Central Mid Childa, 464 kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0944 Hours

Subaru slumped in the back seat of the car, her hands cradled in her lap. She wasn't feeling good, but she was feeling a tad better. Now she didn't feel like weeping every time she thought about… the others. She stared out the window at the passing buildings and cars, thinking to herself. She didn't ride in cars very often, actually. Usually, when she needed to go somewhere, she took a train or just skated… it was odd, really, the kind of things she was thinking of now. Maybe it was trying to avoid thinking about… other things.

"So, you want to go see your sister, huh?" Emelia asked, peering back from the driver's seat. "It could be tough..."

"Yeah, in this situation, I don't…" Doctor Ryker began, cut short as Emelia turned and glared angrily at him. Subaru would really like the chance to visit her sister, of course, and meet her new friends, but she **wasn't **sure if she'd get it. It was protocol to allow officers leave after... traumatic events… but if there was somewhere she was needed… she… maybe it was better if she went to meet Ginga. She wasn't sure if she could help anyone right now…

In any event… it sounded like Emelia was implying, and Doctor Ryker was about to say that she didn't have a choice, and that didn't seem right…

"Hmm… your sister works at Kuran's Island, isn't that right? She's a counselor?"

"Yeah." Subaru replied. "She's really part of the Ground Forcers, though, she's just there to help the… eh…"

"The Type 3 cyborgs acclimate to society?" Doctor Ryker answered.

Subaru nodded – that was correct, she just hadn't been sure if these two were supposed to know. "Type… eh… yeah. Most of the Type 3s, anyways."

"Right… #1, #3, #4, and #7 were imprisoned as co-conspirators." Emelia replied. "Normally people who work at Quarantine Zones are Enforcers?"

"I always thought they should override the others…" Ryker commented. Subaru involuntarily scowled – How could he even suggest that? Maybe he didn't really understand what that meant, but still… she was starting to feel a slight dislike for this man.

"Do you **ever** think before you speak?" Emelia snapped.

"But, eh, most people in the Quarantine Zone are enforcers, yeah, but Ginga thought she could help, since she's a cyborg too." Subaru replied, in an effort to redirect the subject.

"That's what I thought." Emelia said. "We're almost to the precinct."

The car turned right, onto a street Subaru recognized as the one the Precinct was attached to. She was a little surprised she hadn't noticed, but she had been distracted, and it was slower on Roller Boots…

"I've never met your sister, but I've heard a lot about you two…" Emelia said, as they drove into the precinct parking lot. "I hope you get your leave."

They stopped, and Subaru stepped out, somewhat reluctantly. The building seemed a lot more… intimidating than it should. The others would be in there, maybe even families. She sighed – there was no avoiding…

**Something **careened low over the precinct building, a black line trailing after it, as most of the people around looked up in surprise. A crash of supersonic thunder followed in the wake of its passage, cracking and shattering the glass storefronts of buildings across the way – a ragged thrumming from its engines barely audible over the rest of the din. Subaru zoomed in on the craft as it turned away – it was a helicopter, of sorts, but barely big enough for one person, and ragged; like it had been assembled from various bits of metal that shouldn't really go together, but it also had a blocky, tough kind of look, propelled along by a series of jets along its rear… what the rotor was for, she wasn't sure. A second later, two more crashes announced another pair of vehicles racing past. They were similar to the others, dull red flames mixed in with the smog billowing out from them… but it didn't look like they were crashing… more like they were trying to catch up with the other.

They were flying entirely too low and fast. Belatedly, Subaru realized she should probably react somehow, and looked around the immediate area. Most of the few people around were still staring at the helicopters – and just as Subaru had thought, their passage **had **damaged a lot of store windows, and shattering glass could hurt people – a man lay on the ground in front of a House of Tech, clutching a bleeding leg; and he wouldn't be the only one. The helicopters were getting away, too, and she couldn't chase after them, not without Mach Caliber…

Emelia threw open the car door and bolted to her feet, glancing from one place to the other, then focusing on the helicopters.

"Subaru! Help the people here!" Emelia shouted, her uniform replaced by a dust colored, silver-highlighted barrier jacket and I-18 device appearing in her hands in a flash of emerald light. "Doctor Ryker, get her device! I'll deal with the helicopters. "

At that, Emelia streaked off into the sky, chasing after the weird craft. With an immediate task to concentrate on, Subaru still felt sad underneath, but if she could focus, not think about earlier today… her failure. She didn't have her first aid kit, or any of her equipment, but hopefully she could improvise. She ran over towards the most injured person she could see, which was the man in front of the House of Tech.

She reached the man and knelt down, pausing to brush fragments of 'safety' glass out of the way as he turned towards her.

"Wait! Try to stay still… please…" Subaru said. "I'm Rescue Officer Subaru Nakajima, I'm here to help…"

The man groaned, and nodded. Subaru examined what she could see of his injuries – he had a bad cut on the inside of his leg, the… she couldn't remember what it was called, but he was bleeding a lot. That she'd have to stop first – most of the rest was just scratches, and wouldn't be dangerous. She'd need a bandage. She scanned the immediate area for something suitable, and the only thing she saw was a Omirkon store nearby… but would the fabric even be thick enough…

Fortunately, she didn't need to, another Rescue Officer was already approaching, with what seemed to be a full medical kit."Are you Emergency Qualified?" The new officer asked, leaning down and examining the man.

"Uh… Yeah. Rescue Officer First Class, Subaru Nakajima." She replied, mostly by rote.

"Sorry… you weren't in uniform, I didn't realize…"

"It's not a problem…" Subaru replied

"Uh… right." The officer replied.

"Hey… this hurts, you know." The injured man said. Subaru thought he seemed strangely calm, considering…

"Err… there's probably no spinal injury, so should we move him out of the glass?"

"Maybe… but it's safety glass, though."

"Uh… do whatever." The man commented, sounding sleepy.

"Let's fix his wound first." Subaru said, gradually recalling her training. "I need the bandages, and the uh… spray stuff."

"Right." The other officer said, handing her a bandage roll, and a tube of antiseptic. The cut was exposed enough Subaru didn't have to move him much to spray it, and she quickly moved in to bandage the man's leg, placing an absorptive pad over the biggest cut, and wrapping it tightly in bindings. That should stop the bleeding long enough for a more permanent solution.

"No sign of injury on the scanner… I think we can move him." The other rescue officer said.

"Move… uh, no, that doesn't sound good. Got a job at the Triple C, you know…"

Subaru looked down at him in surprise. The Triple C? Wasn't that a bank? What did it have to do with…

"He's delirious… I think he might be in shock." The officer said.

"No… no electricity around here. Not since ERA. Not really."

Subaru glanced between the two people as if she herself were in shock, feeling… dull. She should have noticed that, it was fairly obvious in retrospect. Was it because of… the incident, or because she had been injured. If the scan really was clear, she wanted to move him. Lying on broken safety glass might not be dangerous, but it **was** painful.

"Alright. Hold his legs." Subaru said, grabbing the man under the shoulders, and lifting him up, out of the glass. The rescue officer helped, pausing to toss down a deployable stretcher before holding up the man's legs - Subaru, of course, was doing most of the work, and slowly moved him to the stretcher.

"Okay… what's your name, anyways?" Subaru asked.

"Rescue Officer Feodor Demoro."

"Feodor… I'll wait with this guy, you can help other people."

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't want to…"

Subaru shook her head. "No… I need to wait here. Besides, I'm… not feeling so good."

Feodor looked at her strangely, then turned and picked up his kit.

"Wait! Leave some of the little bandages, and some graspers!"

"Right." He said, nodding, and tossed the stuff to her, before running off to find another injured person. Subaru's instinct was to go with him, but she didn't trust herself. And she needed to be somewhere Dr. Ryker could find her.

"So what's your name?" She asked the injured man, trying to keep him talking.

"Gari… Gari Addens. I'm from Teshen. Came here in 64."

"Ah…" Subaru replied. That was before she was born, and she wasn't good with history. "Well, I need to take out these pieces of glass… it might hurt a little."

Subaru did just what she said, removing the little bits as gently as she could, while carrying on a conversation she couldn't quite follow about windows. His stories – it was him doing most of the talking – were gradually getting more understandable, which was good, of course.

"…made out of barriers, you see." Gari said. "That was a nice house… state of the art – 1.6 billion caps! Way out of my price range, of course…"

"I believe this is yours." Doctor Ryker said, approaching from behind, and holding Mach Caliber on a chain.

"Thanks." Subaru said, rising to her feet and reclaiming her Device. "Are you alright?"

"Yes Sir. Condition Green." Mach Caliber responded. "Your vitals indicate elevated stress levels."

"I'm alright." Subaru replied. "It's just that… I… everyone is dead, and I couldn't do anything about it! I…"

Mach Caliber flashed, which, for a device, seemed to stand in for every conceivable gesture. "No. You could **not** do anything about it. What you **could** do is save Taylor, yourself, Klein, and not least one point three million other people, including **everyone** in this city."

Mach Caliber was right… she had done something, at least, but… "I tried as hard as I could… but I still couldn't save them. I…""And because of this, will you give up?"

"Of course not!" Subaru replied. She couldn't give up. She was still upset… but she couldn't stop…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Emelia careened in and landed next to her. "Last of those aircraft is down." Emelia said, conjuring a monitor with an image of one of the vehicles on it. The monitor zoomed in on front, showing the pilot's head – an big, generally ugly, tusked and pig-nosed green head.

"Is this one of the Orks?"

"Yeah." Subaru replied. "Yeah it is."

"Damnit." Emelia said. "There've been reports of weapons discharges and vehicles moving south through the woods. I think they're coming."

"Well, uh… what do we do now?" Doctor Ryker.

"I'll continue supporting the local battalion." Emelia said. "We'll need to evacuate the northern part of town. Subaru, are you…"

Subaru thought only a moment. If she stopped, more people might die… and as bad as not being able to save the others was… if she let people die because she hadn't even tried anything…

Mach Caliber flashed. "Standby, Ready."

.

38th Aerial Command Training Company, Multi-Purpose Training Field 3

Central Mid-Childa Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0952 Hours

A lot people were fighting in the big field, but that wasn't strange – it was normal actually, done to make them stronger. Vivio Takamachi didn't fight here, although sometimes, after school, she would practice magic in one of the 'ranges' with Mama Nanoha. She was good at magic… she didn't know the 'theory' her teachers talked about, but she was good at it, and she liked it.

She wasn't practicing now, though. For now, she was just watching, focused on one pair especially, a man and a woman she'd seen around a lot. They zoomed together, warhammer clashing against spear – the two fighters were an almost dazzying flurry of swings, moves, thrusts, and the occasional energy bolt, that Vivio could scarcely follow, let alone understand. Each time the man almost hit his partner, he slowed down, ever so slightly – sometimes it cost him the hit, and it wasn't necessary, they had training barriers, and no one else did it.

Vivio wondered how she knew that – only for a moment. She knew why, even if she didn't understand it... her mothers – her new mothers – had explained that she had the memories of someone from a… really long time ago. Vivio stared intently at her hands. It all still didn't seem entirely real…

"You alright, Vivio?" A man asked, walking up next to her. She looked up to see Terris… Mama worked with him, so Vivio knew he was at least a little good, but… she wasn't supposed to talk about this weird stuff with other people.

"I'm okay…" Vivio replied. She felt strange, but didn't really hurt.

"Ah. Well, if you're worried about your mother, don't be. She's harder than half the AFSC put together, and she'll be –"

Something flashed, like a camera or beam, and Vivio turned – to see a very, very bright light, so bright it hurt to look at it. She raised her arms to cover her eyes, crying in distress – something pressed against her left hand, reaching up her arm… really loud noises boomed around her

The horrible light went away, and Vivio opened her eyes. She found herself holding her left hand in front of her, rainbow light shining out around her, and didn't remember doing that. The big light was gone, but there was still something glowing near those tall buildings. Vivio tried to step away, only to stumble over herself and fall.

Terris shouted something… Vivio couldn't hear, the squealing was too noisy, but he was upset. Vivio was upset too, and not just because of the noise. She didn't know what had happened, just that it was bad – an image, or thought, flashed through her memory; burning light and crushing sound.

"Did you see that barrier?" Vivio heard someone say. "I think it would have worked at the **detonation point**!"

"Right, right, get the little hero inside!" Terris shouted back.

She had no idea what they were talking about – she glanced around to see dozens of Nanoha's mages flying towards the burning cloud, and a seeming few as confused as Vivio. Terris yelled for someone to stop – Vivio stopped trying to get up, and turned to face him. Someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her up.

She quickly turned as the person carried her towards the big building and recognized the woman carrying her as the woman practicing before – so it was okay. The woman ran under the big building's balcony, and set Vivio down. Something shrieked behind her, and Vivio turned to see the tower Nanoha sometimes watched the others practice fell over.

"Damn… the shock did that much damage?" The woman with Vivio muttered. "Err… sorry. Shouldn't talk like that. Anyways… you should be safe now."

Vivio scooted up to the building's wall. The bright smoke was rising into a tall column, slightly thicker at the top. The really tall tower's were clouded, but none of them seemed damaged. The smoke was in the center of the towers, and Vivio somehow had the sense that was a good thing. A part of her wanted to do something about it, to run towards the center of the destruction like her mothers would… but she couldn't do that. Could she? She thought that this light had to the fault of the bad people she had heard about before, and she wanted to help... she didn't really want to fight, but… maybe she could do something?

Top Floor Observation Deck, Ground Forces Command Center

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0958 Hours

"What? They said WHAT!" Vita near-shouted. Hayate had avoided directly answering what had gone on in the meeting until they reached the elevator – partly because she was worried about how the Wolkenritter would react, but mostly because she didn't really know what to say herself…

"Oh, this is…" Shamal said, shaking her head.

"I don't understand… why would they do this now? We can't help you…"

"Actually, you'll be staying with me…" Hayate replied.

"**Just **Reinforce?" Vita asked, her voice only slightly lower. "Why would they **do that!**"

"I don't know." Hayate said. "But Reinforce will remain SNCO of the new command, so I guess you'll probably stay with the 31st … anyways, I should tell Signum."

Hayate didn't need an amplifier for that, since it wasn't an interplanetary or interdimensional communication – although she would need a considerable deal of concentration for a visual connection. She held her arms out in front of her, and focused on their link. A silver patch of light materialized abover her hands and gradually shuddered into a flat, rectangular monitor. A second later, Signum's image blurred into view.

"Signum!" Hayate exclaimed, hesitating as she dreaded the moment. "I have some bad news…"

"I know." Signum replied, nodding. "I have just learned that I have been given command of the 298th Ground Battalion, and that you will be responsible for a Battalion Group in the Special Response Force."

"They're sending you away as well?" Shamal asked "But… who will take care of the Company?"

"You will. When I received my new orders, I tried to… clarify the situation, of course… but General Shendaler hasn't any authority to contradict them. It seems the 38th Special Investigations will be part of a joint group dedicated to researching the Ork physiology and technology."

"But… they're splitting us up!" Reinforce said.

"Why are you so calm about this, anyways?" Vita asked. "I say we should go back and tell these monitor-hiding morons they can take their…"

Signum nodded. "Whoever is responsible, confrontation does not seem necessary or wise – at least not yet. Nor would it be practical if they are indeed hiding behind monitors."

"Overreaction would only benefit our detractors ." Zafira commented.

"Indeed." Signum said, nodding again. "It's possible that they actually intend to provoke us into violence."

Hayate winced – the prospect had a slight appeal, but really, even considering their attitude it was extreme… and couldn't possibly end well.

"And then Hayate would be…"

"Still." Vita said. "If they try to drag this out, or do anything **else** funny, I'll kick their arses from here to the edge of reality."

"Of course." Zafira said. "However, Hayate's meeting is at 1005."

Hayate grimaced again – she'd worry about the long term in the long term, rather than now, when she had critical things to worry about. If they really wouldn't compromise… she'd find a way around them, or… she could always retire, maybe. But only if she was really desperate…

"Er… yeah, I have a meeting as part of the Special Defense Force, so…" Hayate replied. "I'll contact you after the meeting is done… I don't know how long it'll be."

"I also have a ceremony to attend, and I don't know when it will be done either." Signum said. "Good luck, Mistress, Reinforce – I know you are still unsure of yourself, but I am confident in your talent… but if you ever need advice, you still need only ask."

"Right. I'll probably be late if I don't go, so…" Hayate said. "Goodbye!"

With that, she ended the link. The elevator opened a moment later – someone had called it up already. Conference Room 217, level 650… it was a long way away… and she couldn't be late.

After all, she had a world to save.

Kaiden III Battlegroup, Tetrarch 13, on course to _Star of Heaven_

West Central Mid-Childa, approximately 107 kilometers North of Fiene.

9-472-004M42

Tetrarch 13 swerved again, throwing the pile of equipment and miscellaneous items that had accumulated on the left bulkhead to the right bulkhead. Harrian, as the one person on the ship not strapped down at the moment, naturally was thrown across the room.

"Stupid pilot…" She muttered to herself, righting her cap as she stood up. None of the troopers really knew how to fly a skimmer, let alone this lander, and thus far were succeeding solely through luck, the lander's sheer sturdiness, and the Emperor's benediction. Of course.

That was the bulk of the reason they were on this trip now. Colonel Von Ferrograd had decided to leave a lot of the equipment – especially the fliers – behind, along with the bulk of the _Star of Heaven's _crew. Lord Commissar Einz had 'convinced' him to at least bring one of the landers… and now, he'd 'convinced' the exceptionally dim Death Korp command they'd need more equipment, and could enlist more of the Commissar Einz had 'convinced' Von Ferrograd to leave what equipment they couldn't carry behind, along with a fair bit of the _Star of Heaven's _crew. They'd packed a bunch of ammunition onto the one working – sort of – lander; but now, someone had apparently decided they needed to get all the supplies they could before the ship exploded. Why _she _had to do it, as opposed to one of the captains, was a mystery…

Harrian made her way to the cockpit, as the ship veered off course – yet again.

"Stop that!" She scolded.

"Yes Aye miy lord." The pilot replied. It actually seemed to have worked, since they were moving much more steadily, running over the forests down below. It was much more congested than the places she usually worked – dangerous, despite its appearance. A lot like this planet – at least according to Einz. The local variety of heretic seemed pathetic enough, though, fettered by sentimentality and 'compassion'. Usually, it was the other way around.

"How far away is the ship?" Harrian asked.

"We will be there before long, my lord."

Before long… how wonderfully vague. The dropship was moving at a glacial pace – they could probably move faster in a Centaur, let alone a Salamander, but none of those vehicles could bring so many people. Their mission was simple - they would need more aircraft, and any vehicles they could get – not to mention pilots who could actually fly. To that end, Einz had dispatched her, but had also insisted on bringing along half a company for some reason, with armour, even though there were already of lot people at the ship. The witches probably weren't going to attack – how would they even know? Then again, it was always better to have too much firepower than too little, and it was the rest of the battlegroup's problem.

So, of course, if they did attack somehow, they'd only get crushed again. Maybe she'd even get the chance to kill Einz's vaunted Target Beta-Two. His expression would be priceless – he did have a point, though, Harrian thought. That woman's hair **was** ridiculous.

Maybe this would be interesting after all…

Kuran's Island Quarantine Zone, Staff Wing, Apartment B-27 

Central Mid-Childa, 153 kilometers northeast of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0955 Hours

Ginga rechecked her datapad on last time, as though the cryptic message would have somehow clarified in the intervening time.

[READY YOUR FORCES FOR ACTION – YOU WILL BE CONTACTED FOR EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION]

There was really only one interpretation of 'her forces', strange as it was, but still, they could have been clearer about… everything. She wasn't expecting anything remotely like this for months – or ever, really, it wasn't like they were in combat training – but then the situation had been different a day ago. With the invasion, though, she had no trouble understanding the decision, even if it seemed a bit callous – not to mention reckless – to her. General's assumption that the girls would go along with it was what bothered her, really – even if it was totally correct. Nove, at least, would probably be excited… still, he could have at least _asked._

Ginga would certainly deliver the request, and do whatever she could, though. She shook her head and opened the door onto the courtyard – that would be her first place to…

… look.

The courtyard was crowded with twice as many people as usual, and stranger still, they were all staring in the same direction, at something in the sky to the south… Ginga ran out into the courtyard, and, naturally, turned to look southwards.

A dark cloud hung over Clanagan, rising steadily upward and blocking out the skyline. It certainly wasn't natural, appearing to be smoke or something similar… an explosion, most likely, judging from the blooming, vaguely tree-like shape – Ginga recalled that only a sudden detonation would create a cloud like that… and for a bloom of such magnitude, it would need to be a large explosion… an ACID weapon. Well, this would go a long way towards explaining her orders.

People all around murmured to each other and themselves as she searched for anyone she recognized. A small number seemed almost celebratory – few people in the quarantine zone had much love for the TSAB. Most of the people standing around, however, looked as disturbed as Ginga was sure she did…

"_Hey… Ginga…" _Nove's voiced asked over trans._ "…__**are you seeing this**__?"_

"_Yeah, I can see it." _Ginga replied, looking around the area. Nove would probably be…

…right by the exercise machines, just as always, her fiery red hair obvious from fifty meters distant. Sein stood bent over next to her, holding her right foot in her hands – stretching. Ginga quickly sprinted over and stopped by their sides…. While Nove looked like the kind of person you'd expect to spend a lot of time on the exercise yard – lean, muscular, and imposing for her age – Sein, on the other hand, resembled any average teenage girl – not especially small, not especially big, not especially athletic, not especially anything, for that matter.

"So… what _is_ that thing?" Sein asked, sitting down on a bench next to her, holding her hand up like she always did when she was thinking – thumb across her lips, pointer finger extended, the rest of her fingers curled over her chin….

"I don't know. It's some kind of explosive ACID weapon." Ginga said. "Have you been listening to the news?"

"Nah." Nove said. "It's all just gossip, anyways…"

Ginga nodded. The news agencies did tend towards the inane, and the other girls often still didn't understand the rest, so… "Mostly gossip, yes." she said. "Apparently, though, **someone** has been attacking Western Mid-Childa, and they're probably responsible for **that.**"

"Someone…" Nove repeated. "Must be determined to make an impression."

"Not a very good impression, though." Sein said "I mean, have some standards, really."

"Right. Anyways…" Ginga began.

"That's really not even cool…" Sein continued, before catching herself. "Oh, sorry, Gin."

It was remarkable how friendly they'd become over the past seven months, Ginga thought, considering… what had happened to her. She didn't blame them, of course, but **she** remembered it all too well, even if the Numbers had long gotten over it. Long enough Sein addressed her like they were old friends…

"Err… rather, Ginga." Sein corrected. Ginga suddenly realized her left hand was tightly clutched around her Turquoise Sash, and released it. She sighed, shaking her head. Don't think about it…

"It's my fault, Sein, you were just trying to be friendly. Anyways…" Ginga said, then switched to transmission and addressed all seven of the Numbers – _"Everyone, please meet me out by the exercise equipment. I have… something important to discuss."_

"_Understood." _Cinque replied.

"_Exercise yard, got it, be there right away."_ Wendi said.

"_Roger."_Dieci said.

"_We'll be there." _Otto finished – presumably speaking for Dido as well.

Ginga sat down on the bench of one of the weight machines, exhaling sharply. This was an opportunity, she thought. Maybe she could make a difference. Prove she was still worthy of being a Combat Mage of the Time Space Administration Bureau, that she was still strong… mostly to herself. She **wanted** to act, but…

"So, you gonna tell us what you've got?" Sein asked, sitting down next to her.

"I'm not entirely sure what I've got." Ginga replied, offering Sein her datapad. "Here, see for yourself."

Sein took it, turned it over, and read over it, Nove moving in behind her.

"What's this?" Nove asked. "They want us to fight for them?"

"I guess…" Sein said. "Who's this Shoban Dayvor guy?"

"I've never met him." Ginga replied. "Other than that he's part of Striker command, I don't know anything about him."

"So you think we're going to fight?" Nove asked, pointing towards the towering smoke.

"Maybe. I can't think of what else the message could mean."

"About time. This place is **boring.**"

"What about those cheese noodles you like, hmm?" Sein replied. "Or how about…"

"I didn't say it wasn't **nice.**" Nove snapped. "I like it here. It's just… boring**.**"

"There's no purpose to anything, here." Dieci added, arriving from the far side of the courtyard, and taking her place in front of Ginga with practiced casualness. She'd apparently been playing blitzdisk; her Quarantine tunic was stained with grass and her dusty brown hair hanging loose past her thin waist, rather than tied in a ponytail like usual. "Without a purpose, actions become meaningless."

"Yeah, I guess that's it…." Nove replied. "… but still, it shouldn't take that many words to say 'this is boring!'"

"Err… I don't really understand, but sure." Sein said. "I guess it could be fun."

Ginga sighed. "I'm not sure I'd call it fun…"

A few of the Numbers had the same cavalier attitude. It was good to have confidence in combat, but they seemed to regard the whole thing like a game. She just hoped they didn't learn too harshly – this time, a reckless mistake probably wouldn't result in sociological quarantine. She'd been trying to work on it, but… it had never worked with her sister, either. Then again…

No. She didn't need to think about that.

"I know, I know…" Sein said, her tone not entirely certain. "Serious business and all."

"I take it there's something we need to do?" Dieci asked.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ginga said. "I'd like to hold off the speculation until we're all here, though."

"Here's another." Nove said, pointing towards C-Wing.

Ginga turned to see a small, white-haired young woman making her way through the crowd – Cinque. She approached the cluster, glanced around, and nodded to Ginga, apparently having conducted a silent conversation in the meantime.

"Hello." Ginga said simply. Despite her small stature, Cinque was actually the eldest Number to participate in the rehabilitation program, and one of the most respected. She'd also endured more than her fair share of abuse, as evidenced by the patch over her missing right eye…

"Hello, Ginga." She said, gazing off towards the glowing column of smoke in the distance. "It would seem war is unavoidable… I hope that there is something we can do"

"Yeah… we're just trying to help." Sein said.

"Of course…" Ginga replied, nodding as she looked off towards the smoke cloud. "I just don't actually know anything yet, and… I'm not sure if…"

She meant to say "I'm not sure if we're ready.", but if she were honest with herself, really, it wasn't…

"Recieving transmission, Master Nakajima." Blitz Caliber interjected, mercifully interrupting her before she could complete that line of thought."Uh… bring up a monitor." Ginga replied.

"Yes, sir."

A monitor appeared in front of her, showing a Ground Forces officer; a young, thin dark-skinned man with flat-combed dusty hair, wearing an immaculate, perfectly pressed uniform with the emblem of a First Lieutenant – he wasn't General Dayvor, then. Ginga shifted to her side and moved the monitor, so that most of the Cyborgs could see him – and vice versa.

"_Master Sergeant Nakajima?"_ The man said – Ginga nodded by way of response. _"Lieutenant Moraan Omar, Striker Command, pleased to meet you. I see you've got everyone together… my 'copter's landing right now. I'll be with you as soon as we convince the warden to let us bring our equipment in. End."_

The transmission monitor blinked into static, before Ginga could even begin to respond. Surprised silence held for a few moments…

"By 'our equipment', do you think he meant, you know… our equipment?" Nove interrupted.

"I think so…" Ginga replied. Dieci scoffed, Sein tapped her fingers against the nearby weight rack, and Cinque nodded in response to something inaudible.

"Wendi just met up with Otto and Dido." Cinque said. "They'll be here within a minute."

"Good. Then they should be here before Lieutenant Omar." Ginga said. "He's going to have a hard time getting through security, if he's really bringing weapons."

"So we'll be working for you guys, now, huh?" Dieci asked.

"Eh, that sounds pretty fair." Sein said. "They've been really nice to us, after all, and I trust Ginga…"

Ginga blushed slightly – at least someone trusted her, even if she didn't right now…

"I don't mind either. It makes sense." Nove said. "We're meant to fight. We might as well fight for our friends."

"They must be quite confident in you, to trust us so quickly." Cinque said, addressing Ginga. It looked like everyone believed in her – except for her. Her counselor said she'd have to confront her emotions eventually, but she just wished she didn't have to confront them now...

Even if a part of her just wanted to hide, she knew she would have to stand – if not for herself, then for her family, and her friends… and everyone else, for that matter. People were depending on her, and they couldn't afford for her to be afraid…

"Ey… Ginga? You alright?" Wendi said, leaning in over Ginga's head.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Ginga said. Wendi, of course, was standing behind her, and Otto and Dido were also present – inseperable as ever, standing off to the side. That made everyone.

"I was just… thinking."

"What about?" Sein asked.

Ginga hesitated a moment before answering. The girls were looking to her, the one who, at the moment everything stood in the balance… had failed. And now, here she was again, with everyone looking to her… She felt like a pillar of bamboo at the foundation of a skyscraper – she knew she wasn't great, or strong willed, or even really stable. But she'd have to pretend.

"How…" She began. "How we're going to fight **that**."

She indicated the pillar of smoke looming in the distance. That was certainly **one** problem among many…

"Yeah. We'll have to try not to run into one of those, then." Nove said, dismissing the concern with a flick of her wrist.

"More seriously, if we're doing to be operating together, how is this going to be organized?" Otto asked. A rather… androgynous-looking young woman, with short spiky black hair, she had been a sort of battlefield coordinator for the Numbers, and remained the closest thing to, if not a leader for the girls, then at least an organizer. "Do we know who will be our leader, to begin?"

"Not a clue." Ginga replied. "If I had to, I'd guess this Lieutenant Omar guy will be the commander – or I suppose, maybe myself."

"I vote Ginga." Sein interjected.

"I second that notion." Wendi said.

"It's 'motion', and I'm not entirely sure we can do that." Dieci said.

"Yeah…" Nove replied. "Who's this Lieutenant Omar anyways."

"I've never met him." Ginga said. "He's from the Ground Forces Striker Command, though. At least, I think he is."

"He seems pretty excited..." Sein said.

"_He's here." _Otto noted - correctly, of course. Moraan Omar accompanied by a slightly younger green-haired woman, and one of the Quarantine Zone staff dragging a large chest on wheels, was making his way through the assembled crowd – with some difficulty as… certain people… were being rather reluctant to let him through. Everyone stood and gathered together, forming – if not rows precisely, then at least a decent approximation, Ginga standing at Drill Formal.

"Hello ladies." Lieutenant Omar said, returning Ginga's salute when he arrived about half a minute later, a few bystanders looking on. "…and gentleman."

"Otto's a girl." Dido corrected, a customary trace of annoyance in her tone.

Otto nodded. Admittedly, it was pretty hard to tell, but the fact that he didn't **know** told Ginga he hadn't been expecting this – in which case he would have had profiles on all of them; and that he hadn't been involved in the Combat Cyborg project in general, or he'd be familiar with the 'biological compatibility' excuse, at least. So then… who was Lieutenant Omar?

"Err… right. My apologies, then." The Lieutenant said. "I'm Lieutenant Omar, this is Staff Sergeant Miran Donahue. Officer, thank you for carrying our baggage… I'm sure you have duties to attend to in this situation…"

"Yes sir, I do." The junior enforcer replied, hastily abandoning the cart and hurrying off towards the central hub.

"Sir." Ginga said, before Lieutenant Omar could continue. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we'd all like to know exactly what's going on here…"

That was an understatement at best, but hopefully, he'd at least offer some answers. If he couldn't – or rather, didn't, then… then she wasn't entirely sure **what** she'd do.

"Alright. You're all aware of the situation, and you've all got a good idea of how serious it is…" Lieutenant Omar began, gesturing towards the smoke over Clanagan. "… so I'll try to bring you up to speed as soon as I can. First things first – we're forming an emergency response division, and need everything we can get. I'm here to organize a Mobile Striker Section as part of the Special Response Division. You're all being called up.

City of Whithaum, Whithaum Battalion Group Headquarters, Parade Grounds

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 295 kilometers south of the capital city 

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1014 Hours

"Signum Nedes." General Shendaler announced. "Step Forward."

Signum complied, walking up onto the General's platform. There wasn't a great deal of fanfare for this ceremony, nor many people in attendance – General Shendaler, Agito, and half a dozen spare clerks from the 298th, most wearing bandages of some sort or another, including the two Color Guards holding the standards of the TSAB and Mid-Childa Division, plus of course herself – but all bedecked in the array of medals (for those who had them) and ribbons that constituted their dress uniforms, and conducting themselves with all the dignity they could manage.

She stopped in front of General Shendaler and saluted. The Color Guard tapped their standard poles into the ground, as Shendaler saluted back. Both held position for a second, then lowered the salute.

"Drill Cross." General Shendaler said. Signum swiftly obeyed, snapping her arms behind her back… and resisting the urge to kneel, forged into her by force of habit, even although she could actually only recall the precise details of old Belkan promotion ceremonies in the abstract. It had been a long time ago, after all…"Staff Sergeant Agito. St… Come Forward."

In absence of Hayate or Reinforce, the small girl (she was too immature to be called a woman, even if she was physically adult) was serving as her second. She flew up to the General, who handed her a thin wooden box about half her height, or around a decimeter in length; then she took her place to Signum's right.

"First Lieutenant Signum Nedes." General Shendaler began. "As an Officer of the Armed Forces, the Time Space Administration Bureau has bestowed on you the responsibility to protect the people and land, from any enemy without and within. In the course of this duty, you have shown that this trust was not misplaced. In recognition of your leadership, skill, and steadfast service, the Armed Forces High Council has authorized you to serve in a higher grade. Present your badge."

Signum detached her rank badge from her uniform, and handed it to General Shendaler. He took it, and placed it on the small table next to him.

"Signum Nedes. Do you swear that, as a Captain in the TSAB Ground Forces, you will uphold and protect the Bureau Charters, in all circumstances and against all threats?"

"I swear." Signum said

"Do you swear that you take this oath of your own free will; without any prior inalienable loyalty or obligation, and that you will perform your duties with all the strength of your soul."

"I swear." Signum repeated. It was not technically a lie – her connection to Hayate wasn't truly 'inalienable' anymore, and any circumstances that could result in an outright conflict between the two still seemed unlikely.

"Then, on the authority granted to me by the Military Executive Sub-Council, you are now a Ground Forces Captain. Kneel, and receive your insignia."

She did, bowing and inclining her head. Agito moved in, and placed the wooden box in her hands. Signum opened the box, and took the small gold badge inside, pausing for a moment to inspect it. The top half, just like her Lieutenant's insignia, was carved to show two crossed ferns, with the half below it containing the Bureau Shield, with a small rectangle below on either side.

She nodded, and carefully placed it upon her uniform, saluting.

"Congratulations, Captain." General Shendaler said, returning the salute and extending his hand. Signum returned the gesture, relaxing her military posture just a bit as she did so. "I'm afraid there isn't time for much celebration… we've still got a war to win here, after all. Everyone, you're dismissed."

The soldiers in attendance saluted – as close to simultaneously as they could manage, as the Color Guards carried the flags back into Battalion Headquarters. Agito left the jewel case on the table, and flew to Signum's shoulder.

"I suspect I have a great deal of work to do myself." Signum said. "The battalion will need to be completely reorganized… I doubt more than half of the mages can even stand."

"Yes... of course. I really ought to be at the headquarters, myself…" the General said. "First, though, I do have something private I'd like to discuss… if you would walk with me."

"I guess I'll be off then?" Agito said tentatively.

"If you wish. I imagine you know all this…"

"Yeah, sounds kinda plain." Agito replied, then slumped slightly in midair. "…'Course I don't have much to do except 'reorganization'. Ugh."

She turned and slowly drifted away, muttering under her breath.

"Interesting woman." General Shendaler noted, removing his cap and pointing off towards the ruined gardens. "Come."

It wasn't so much a command as an invitation, but it would be unpardonably rude not to accept, even if Signum wasn't curious what he had to say. "She can be brash, but she's a good person, ultimately. Is she…"

"No, no, she's not what I wanted to talk about." The General said, chuckling. "Although, it is somewhat odd for your unit to include two… unison devices. Considering you'd be lucky to find two on the same planet. You'd be lucky to find one on any given planet, come to it."

It was somewhat odd. True unison devices, even copies of the ancient model, were extremely rare in this age, and 'modern' unison devices were a poor imitation. To find one unison device by chance, as they had with Agito, was unlikely. To find two was absurd… but of course, Signum knew she could hardly tell the truth. She settled with a plausible explanation. "Hayate specializes in Lost Logia cases." She said, shrugging for effect. "I guess we were fortunate."

"Yes… Hayate does have a rather high number of unusual people in her unit. I received a new dossier earlier today, in fact. Contained some rather interesting information…"

"There certainly are…" Signum began, before her mind caught up with the rest of the sentence and its implications. Did that mean that he knew… "I mean… what kind of information…"

"Everything, I assume. If you had a bigger secret, it would have to be a very great indeed."

Damn. It sounded a lot like he knew. Then, why had he agreed to promote her? There were only a handful of people who knew the truth, and of them, only a handful regarded the Wolkenritter – or Hayate – with anything but hatred and fear. Admittedly, justified hatred and fear in their case.

"Sir. I didn't mean to deceive you…"

"I know how operational security works." Shendaler replied with a dismissive wave. "And I just want to say… I thought you'd make a good commander before… now I **know** you can accomplish whatever task is put before you."

"I'm not sure I understand." Signum replied.

"It's my understanding that you're rather good at this kind of thing. You were called the 'Burning Sword General', were you not?"

"That is true…" Signum admitted. "Although it still doesn't explain why you'd trust me."

"I can't think of a particular reason I wouldn't. Your record speaks for itself…"

Signum looked at him quizzically, wondering just what part of that two-hundred page document would inspire confidence in any sane person. She'd read it herself, and it had frightened **her. **It didn't make sense – the General wasn't mad, and didn't seem the type to lie in an attempt to manipulate her. So perhaps he hadn't actually…

"Are you certain we're talking about the same record?"

"I assume so. Huge file, goes back about seven hundred years, Book of Darkness, that one?"

"Yes, that one." Signum replied. Now, knowing that he had read the genuine document, she was definitely curious. "What did you find admirable about that?"

"Well, there's the Capetti insurrection, the Black Nova Pirates case, the Jail Scaglietti incident… oh, and the _Camer Dalsas _crisis, I liked that one. Let's add, hey, the last Book of Darkness incident. The point is, every time in that record, when you had a choice, you chose to do the right thing – and you did it damn well, at that."

"I see." Signum said, nodding slightly, even if she didn't agree completely – her actions eleven years ago were more than a little selfish and emphatically **not **'the right thing', and her actions since then didn't annul what she had done as part of the Book of Darkness. Although she supposed that the general wasn't wrong, essentially, although her recent actions weren't really more than what Hayate – and herself – expected of her…

"My point is, the things you did… back then… they weren't you." General Shendaler said. "Honestly, that you managed to stay sane through that…"

"I don't think I did." Signum replied simply. "I just forgot..."

"Ah… I suppose that's a blessing, in a way. Still, I can't imagine it's pleasant, not being able to remember who you were…"

"It's better than the alternative." Signum said. "Pardon me, but…"

"Yes, yes, of course. We still have a war to win, so I suppose should get around to the point." General Shendaler said, retrieving a box from his uniform satchel. "A cousin of mine found some very old Belkan records a while ago. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but your surname was in there."

"Nedes is not an uncommon surname." Signum replied. Indeed, she wasn't sure it was her name – but it was referenced in several reports, and it seemed familiar; although she didn't know whether it was really her family name, or if it had been applied to her some time later, or simply given to her upon creation…

"That's true." The General said, opening the box to reveal a small black booklet, and offering it to Signum. "This, however, records a War Marshall Nedes in Cefel, around the year 616 of the Warrior Age, by the Belkan Calendar."

"Interesting." She replied, taking the case. 616… according the TSAB records, that was the year of the… the first incident. Perhaps this War Marshall Nedes really was…

A latent thought formed in her mind. "Although, if this is true…" Signum added. "I made at least one terrible decision."

"I… I suppose so." Shendaler said, realization flashing over his face. "Well, uh… maybe. Don't worry about it too much."

Shendaler's device began to chirp, indicating an incoming transmission. He ignored it, continuing with their conversation. "So, if you're interested, you're welcome to keep that – maybe you'll be able to find something."

"I think I might…" Signum replied, examining the book. It looked old and fragile, constructed of durable woven fibers, but nevertheless musty and slightly scented with preservatives. She carefully opened it, and read the front page. The words were instantly legible, a dialect older and more familiar than modern Belkan. It announced itself as a roster of the Cefel military…

"Careful, though." Shendaler said, his device chirping again. "That thing's as old as you are, and didn't age half as well…"

Signum looked at him cooly. It was inarguably true, but… **tact?**

"This is probably the Special Response Force." The General said, looking for a distraction. "I'd better answer it."

"Yes, indeed." Signum replied, mildly amused. "I'll leave you to your transmission, and return to my new unit?"

"Sounds good to me." Shendaler said. "Congratulations, and good luck…"

Capital Defense Force Supreme Commander's Office, Ground Forces Command Center

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 0957 Hours

General Montgomery Laito glowered at the cloud blocking out the view from his window, and by extent, the people who had put it there. Glowering was seldom helpful, but it seemed warranted in this situation. An ACID weapon exploding a hundred meters from him had not been a pleasant experience, but thanks to the Emergency Barriers, he had survived – and indeed, the Command Center had suffered little damage. Unfortunately…

"There aren't even preliminary estimates on the number of casualties yet, not in practice." Sergeant-General Darius said "…but disaster simulations project casualty numbers at over ten thousand. Damage is concentrated on the western side of the Command Center. Rescue Services are having difficulty entering the affected areas. Widespread fires are reported, and while contained for the moment…"

"Damn." Montgomery said, shaking his head. "This is only going to increase the citizen's panic… and if they possibly have any more of these weapons... We're supposed to be **safe** from this kind of attack… where was the SWDC!"

"The Intercept Commander is on his way up. He claims there were several mechanical failures…"

"Of course there were." Montgomery muttered. "I expect the media is plastering this everywhere…"

"Actually, sir, not yet… most of the Clanagan area correspondents were waiting for the press conference…"

"Damn. Well, if this pattern keeps up, every journalist on the planet is going to run away screaming next time we call a conference."

"Sir?" The Sergeant-General asked.

"Two out of the five conferences in the past seven months have been interrupted by major terrorist attacks. And two of the others were called in response to terrorist attacks!"

"Ah… yes, yes sir. Related to that, how do you intend to deal with the possibility of a second attack?"

"Are the Siege Barriers ready?"

"Yes sir. Siege Barriers are currently at full charge, and the area is clear."

"Activate them." Montgomery ordered. "…no – wait. Move the 3rd Regiment onto the grounds, then raise the Siege Barriers."

"Understood. Also, the SWDC commander has just arrived. Security is checking him now."

"Good." Montgomery replied. That man had better have a pretty good explanation… ten thousand. Damnation… "Any chance the simulations were wrong?"

"Yes." Darius said. "Due to the evacuation. But, unfortunately, that would mostly likely only increase the population in the affected area."

"Thousand Gods… we'll need to evacuate the city. At least move people away from the command center. They're likely to target here if the attack the city."

"That may be difficult. Disaster shelters are overflowing. Rescue Services have been placing the refugees in hotels... however, another six hundred thousand are due to arrive, from Fiene and the outlying areas."

General Laito collapsed into his chair – Clanagan's population was spread fairly thin, as most of the populace had emigrated in the Last War – which, he realized, was the last time a disaster of this magnitude had occurred, vintage battleship be damned – still, two to three hundred thousand was a lot of people to shelter for an indefinite span of time.

"Most of the largest hotels are near the city center…" Montgomery observed. "We could try sending the evacuees to the resorts along the beach, or at the spaceport."

"We'd have to." Darius replied. "However, there are only one around one thousand twenty-five rooms available. Multiple individuals could be housed in each, of course…"

"But if everyone is staying here… we'd either need to place them in apartments..." Montgomery paused, as a red-haired thirty-something man, dressed in a scarlet-red SWDC uniform entered the room, accompanied by a pair of soldiers and looking entirely anxious. Good.

Sergeant-General Darius looked at his datapad. "Commander Allan Pulaski."

General Laito nodded curtly, and asked "What the hell were you doing?"

The man jumped at the accusation, stammering in response. "I… the missiles didn't fire. I followed procedure. The missiles just didn't fire. And the…"

"I don't care about excuses." Montgomery snapped back.

"It was a mechanical malfunction…" Commander Pulaski replied. "We never had authorization for…"

"Whatever it is, fix it." Montgomery replied – that defense system needed to work. He hadn't expected to need it, but now… he'd have the whole thing stripped out and modernized if he could, but for now, it just needed to work, and fast… "I'll assign an engineering regiment to repair your system. You can run whatever tests you'd like."

"Yes sir. It'll work, sir." The commander replied.

"It had better." Montgomery said. "If a **firework** so much as gets close to this city, I'll see to it you're all court-martialed for negligence. Understood?"

"Understood, sir." Commander Pulaski said, saluting.

"Dismissed." Montgomery replied, reluctantly saluting back. The commander quickly exited the room, the new blast doors sealing behind him.

"Bring in Engineering Regiment number… eight, and have them get to work on the defense grid."

"Engineering Regiment Eight, done." The Sergeant-General replied.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of restoring the city barrier?"

"Nobody is entirely sure how it worked… we could request a new theatre barrier, but it would take quite some time to install…"

"I'll do it anyways. I need to get in contact with SWDC at Headquarters… and… explain why I was wrong."

"Understood, I'll set up a secure transmission now."

"A private transmission, if possible. See if you can't round up some rooms for the refuges. Open our barracks. Maybe you can establish some temporary shelters in the old buildings."

Darius looked back at him for a moment, silent, then saluted. "Yes sir!"

The Sergeant-General turned on his heels and quickly departed from the room. General Montgomery, meanwhile, sat down at his desk, a videopathic monitor ready to be opened. So now he had to tell the main office what had happened… and why he'd been arguing that Gaius's obsessive focus on severe engagement warfare was a waste of money. That wasn't going to be pleasant…

On the other hand… the defense network had never really been meant to protect against a short range attack from the surface, so it wasn't entirely his fault. A large portion of the problem _was _the lack of awareness, as well. That didn't change the fact that they needed to upgrade it, but at least it might mean that he was able to keep some semblance of a career…

Hostile Dimensional Ship Crash Site, 11 kilometers northeast of Zolice.

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 540 kilometers west of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1017 Hours

"_Captain Osterfeld, can you hear us? Captain Osterfeld, please respond."_

A screech of static came in reply. Nanoha's monitor indicated there had been a response, but whatever was in the ship ahead was preventing an understandable transmission. She switched to navigation – that signal was bad, too. None of their long range communications equipment was working, and even the transmissions between helicopters were scratchy.

"_Captain, if you can hear this, interference is preventing communication. Operating Ready__, over."_ The lead pilot concluded_."Looks like we're on our own. Agent Harlown, it's all your show now."_

"_Understood." _Fate replied. _"I'm ready."_

"_We knew this might happen. It'll be fine."_ Nanoha transmitted. Losing communications didn't worry her. They'd flown in at high altitude, to prevent being spotted by any guards – they hadn't seen any guards themselves and there hadn't been any indication the… invaders knew they were coming – but that didn't mean they were there. She was sure they could deal with any resistance – at least long enough to escape, but. sStill, if these 'Krieg' were half as bad as they seemed, their ship couldn't be a safe place to be. That someone could actually be as bad as they seemed scared her, actually.

No one said anything for another minute, or so. There really wasn't anything to say.

"_I… think I can see it." _The pilot of Nanoha's JF-673, Kai Vertol, apparently back from Fate's original mission, suddenly commented._ "Hard to tell, though, smoke here is intense."_

"_Yep, that's it._ _Alright, boys, girls."_ The lead pilot announced. _"If you look ahead to your right, you will see… the biggest damn ship you've ever seen. Well, except for Captain Takamachi… aand I suppose anyone who was near Clanagan around November. So besides all of you."_

"Yeah. But **most** of us were smart enough not to try to board that one..." One of the Enforcers' in Nanoha's helicopter said.

She had to smile a bit at that, as she peered out the window. The invader's vessel was faintly visible in the distance, quickly growing closer and clearer, through the dense cloud of ash and dust surrounding the crash site. She thought she could just barely make out the general shape – long and thin, slightly thicker one side and pointed on the other. It wasn't any design Nanoha recognized, or really even any style she knew – it mostly reminded her of a knife, or perhaps a tent stake.

The helicopter closed in to around a kilometer distant, close enough Nanoha could really appreciate its size – almost large enough to fit nine _Asuras _back to back, and it looked it. It was also clear that the ship was lying on its side, turned about ten degrees to the left, and Nanoha could also make out the edge of a furrow built up around the ship, and trailing off behind it – there could be no doubt that it had indeed crashed, not landed. Or at least, landed very badly.

"_Looks like no one's home." _The third helicopter's pilot remarked.

"_It is strange…" _Fate said. _"Maybe we should deploy, just in case."_

"_Keep watch on the helicopters…" _Nanoha replied, nodding to herself. _"Good idea."_

"_Right, let's do it." _Fate replied. _"We may see an entry point, too… meanwhile, Shari, Doctor Tranter, see what you can find out."_

"Uhm…" Nanoha said, moving to the right exit and grabbing hold of the overhead rail. "Sergeant Vertol, can you unlock the door?"

"Yes sir… Alright, stay clear."

The door slid open with a faint click, and the helicopter shuddered as air rushed in, smelling of dust and sulphur. Nanoha pulled Raising Heart out from underneath her uniform jacket, clasped it in her hand.

"_Stars One…" _She transmitted, using her old code name – 'B One' was just boring. "_Launching!"_

At that, she simply stepped out of the helicopter, five hundred meters in the air. She let herself freefall away from the vehicle, smiling – any fear of heights she might have had once had vanished long ago. Now… this was fun.

"Standby, Ready." Raising Heart announced.

"_Lightning One, Launching." _Fate echoed.

"Raising Heart, Set Up!" Nanoha shouted, storing her uniform. As fun as 'skydiving' might be, she had a job to do, and wanted to do it quickly – Fate had a point earlier, Vivio _would _be waiting for her, and she didn't want to keep her waiting for long.

"Ready. Barrier Jacket Aggressor Mode." Raising Heart said. Nanoha's jacket materialized around her in a drawn-out moment, coming perfectly into place almost without her assistance. Aerial fins manifested at her feet as the storage field shut down, and she slowed to a hover, searching the sky for the helicopters.

They weren't very hard to find, having not moved far. On the other hand, she couldn't really see Fate at all, and the acrid dust was stinging her eyes, to say nothing of her nose… the starship, meanwhile, looked even bigger from outside.

"_Calibrating for low visibility, Master." _Raising Heart said, reading or guessing her concern (it was hard to tell which, and pointless in any event). A faintly tinted field formed around her eyes, followed by small illusory indicator symbols showing Fate and all three helicopters. It did nothing for the smell, though – but then she wouldn't be much of a combat mage if she couldn't deal with a little unpleasantness.

"_Nanoha."_ Fate transmitted. _"I will cover the helicopters. Go closer and try to find a landing spot, if you can…"_

Nanoha turned, accelerating and steering closer to the ship. She still didn't have a great view, but could get a longer look at it. The hull wasn't the smooth metal of a typical dimensional ship, irregularly dotted with protruding structures and machinery… it was almost like the old Walden Intelligent Ships she'd seen images of. The rest of the shape was entirely wrong for that, though, and, of course a Walden ship would never carry humans. On the opposite side, she could see that the hull was ripped and torn, even glowing. Damaged in the crash, perhaps, or something else?

"_And see if anyone shoots at me?" _Nanoha responded as she approached the ship.

"_Well, er… I wouldn't put it that way, but…" _Fate stammered. _"If you do…"_

"_It's alright." _Nanoha replied. _"I'm the best defender out of all of us, so it's a good idea."_

"…_Right." _Fate said, recovering her calm.

Nanoha smiled – worrying about her was one of the few that flustered Fate… childish perhaps it was, but it was still sweet…

Back to finding a landing site. She flew in even closer, about three hundred meters from the ship, and continued moving towards the rear. A gigantic statue of an eagle loomed into view at the forward edge of the 'tent stake' – bigger than a small dimensional ship, even with the left wing broken off. Other than that, there was a protruding chamber on the side of the ship just a bit in front of the eagle and near the bottom of the ship, covered by large metal doors, which made it look like a launch bay or such – that would be one place they might be able to land. Further along this side, there were also a pair of small openings in the ship's hull, one not far away, one far closer to the bow, with two large metal tubes protruding from within – they had to be weapons of some sort. There were substantial gaps around the barrels, so that would be one place they could enter, if only it wasn't tilted down… there was probably one on the other side, so…

"_Hmm… this is interesting." _Shari commented over transmission.

"_What is interesting?" _Fate replied.

"_The readings are strange, but it looks like there's some kind of… highly concentrated, low power AMF around the ship."_

"_This ship has an AMF?" _Nanoha asked. _"If it's low power, though, it shouldn't be a problem…"_

"_No, it's not in the ship, it's just a thin layer around it. Once we're beyond it, it shouldn't hinder us at all. Maybe it's part of their jamming system… I might be able to tell more looking at the projector itself… but right now, it's just… too weird."_

Nanoha reached the end of the ship and banked into a slow turn, noting another possible landing point – a tall tower emerging from the side of the 'stub' with the Eagle on it, which appeared to be open at the top. The engines, meanwhile, just looked like huge rockets – stark contrast to the barely noticeable AMFS on Bureau ships.

"_Well. If you've had your turn, Ms. Finenio…"_ the other scientist – Doctor Tranter – added _"I suppose I should tell you some of my preliminary predictions… first off, we have a fairly utilitarian appearance here, but we also have a very… rugged… appearance. That suggests the designers favor durability and reliability over finesse, and the lack of any detail or covering suggests an eye for economy. On the other hand, the number of exposed components indicate…"_

"_What about the decorations at the top…" _Nanoha asked, as the helicopters followed around the rear of the ship.

"_Or at the front?" _Fate added.

"_The eagle symbol attached to the top section is most likely intended as figurehead of sorts. For easy recognition of the vessel, as a symbol of its captain or origin, or possibly a totemic figure believed to protect the ship from harm and ill fortune. As for the forward 'decorations', it could simply be that they wish the fore of their ship to be recognizable. That would mean they consider the front to hold some special significance..."_

"_I thought the front might just be an, err, shield of some kind, but…" _Shario said. _"according to mass-spec, both the eagle and the, uh, triangle are constructed of the same alloy as the rest of the hull, covered in gold. It looks a bit thicker, though…"_

"_Yes… it may also be a… shield of some kind." _Doctor Tranter replied.

Up ahead, an immense hole had been torn in the port side of the ship. Fully a third of the ship's hull had been ripped out, and it was still glowing. Assuming this ship's hull was a strong as a typical Dimensional Ship, Nanoha had trouble coming up with a list of things that could possibly do this. It would have to be a fairly wide area bombardment attack… beyond her abilities. Probably **far **beyond her ability.

"_I think I found why this ship crashed." _She transmitted, speeding towards the damaged hull section, a bit short of halfway down the hull – the destruction ended just in front of the 'rear' section. Through the gap in the hull, she could see a honeycomb of bulkheads, corridors, massive rooms – you could probably fit whole ships in some of them. It was smouldering in places, but there didn't seem to be much fire… _"I think it might be a good way in, too!"_

"_Whoa." _Someone commented over transmission.

"_Yeah, that just might be it." _The pilot of the first helicopter said, his JF-704 catching up with Nanoha as it pulled ahead of the rest. _"It'll be a bit tricky getting in there, but I doubt we'll find better."_

"_I see." _Fate transmitted. A few moments later, one of the larger and less damaged rooms near the front of the damaged section flashed white, indicating their landing zone. _"Bandit One move in. Lightning Squad, A Squad, prepare to disembark. Nano – eh, Stars One, can you see if the inside is clear?"_

"_Sure." _Nanoha replied, focusing energy…

"Wide Area Search." Raising Heart said – the energy Nanoha had gathered coalesced into a trio of small orbs, which immediately zoomed off towards the ship, splitting up and heading for several of the large bays visible through the ship's hull. Then, all three of the searchers slammed into an invisible wall about a hundred meters from the hull.

"_Break off!" _Nanoha shouted_ "There's a barrier in place!"_

The JF-704 immediately reared back and veered away from the ship, turning sharply and coming into a stable hover a few hundred meters from the barrier. Nanoha allowed herself to exhale – she wasn't entirely sure what that was, but it was probably best to be careful in this case.

"_Hold on… I'm not reading any barrier…" _Shario said._ " I think that was just the AMF field I mentioned before… maybe that's what it's for… I'll try to analyze the data…"_

"_Is it safe?" _Bandit One asked.

"_I think so… I'm guessing it just stops magical objects." _Shario continued. _"It's focused really strongly, but it's not really all that powerful."_

The JF-673s formed up beside the lead helicopter, Fate moving up behind them to watch for attackers. There weren't any, for the moment, but even a cursory search of a ship this size would take a long time. There was one way to test whether the ship's field would stop a physical object…

"_Stars One… I'm going to try to get through the shield." _She said. _"I'll take care of any threat, and launch searchers from the inside."_

"_Okay…" _Fate replied. _"Be careful."_

"_I will." _Nanoha said. "Can you guess the distance…"

"Yes, Master. Displaying Anti-Magic Barrier now." An instant later, the image of a transparent red 'membrane' representing the barrier, or AMF, or whatever-it-was flashed into view around the ship, followed shortly by a display indicating the distance to the… thing. She moved in up close, within a meter, and reach out…

Her hand passed through without so much as a hint of resistance, aside from a bit of static energy. Confident it was safe, she passed through entirely, her hair standing on end for a brief moment, quickly searched for any obvious danger, and moved on towards the open chamber. She quickly landed on the uneven, crumpled metal of the floor, scanning entrances for any sign that might reveal a threat.

She found none. There weren't even any discernable signs that anyone had ever been on the ship – but they had to be here, somewhere. Quickly, she focused more energy and launched searchers, sending them into the corridors leading deeper into the ship – nothing happened this time.

"_It's safe."_Nanoha transmitted, glancing down in an attempt to brush the dust off her barrier jacket. It was a futile effort, the white fabric was now an even tan-brown color. _"Wide Area Search engaged."_

"_Roger. Heading in now." _Bandit One replied, tilting down and cautiously maneuvering into the bay. The other two helicopters moved in as well, their doors opening as they landed, their passengers dismounted and immediately broke into squads, some taking position to cover the doors, others forming up around the helicopters. After making one last check of the surrounding area, Fate flew in and landed in the center of the room.

Nanoha launched one last pack of searchers, glancing at the monitor displaying the map of the ship's interior they were systematically assembling. It would take a long time – hours, at least, but it was faster than searching the whole ship by eye. Plus, the simple programming in each construct had also been instructed to record anything especially unusual they encountered – there were already dozens of anomalies reported. Meanwhile, Raising Heart was, of course, distributing this data to the entire section – or rather, team, as the Enforcers rather simply called any sized group._"Bandit One through Three. Keep the helicopters on Ready. C Team and the crews should secure the landing area." _Fate announced. _"Meanwhile, Lightning Team will sweep towards the bow of the ship, while Stars – that is, B Team, and D Team will both head towards the rear. You should already know your team assignments, if not, it's available on your tactical display. Commanders, rally your forces and prepare to move out."_

The Enforcers reacted quickly, Nanoha herself hurrying to the far side of the room before anyone could get too confused chasing her around. Several people from B Team were already guarding a pair of doors on the left of the bay, so she went there. The rest of the teams assembled, carefully keeping watch on all the entrances as they moved. The other six members of B Team began to assemble around her, one or two them obviously struggling to contain their excitement at being on the same team as her. She was grateful they tried, anyways.

"_So uhm, where are we supposed to go?"_ Shario asked.

"_Shari, stay with me." _Fate replied. _"Doctor Tranter, stay with Agent Kemmel."_

"_Okay…" _Shari replied.

"_Yes sir."_ Doctor Tranter said.

"_Another thing…" _Shari added. _"I'd guess the damage to the ship was caused by some kind of impact at high speed. It's not really like a crash, though, more like…"_

"_Like something else collided with it?" _One of the Enforcers asked.

"_Yeah, like that."_

"_Agent Kemmel. We should try to find the bridge." _Doctor Tranter suggested. _"There'll be a lot of useful information there."_

"_Alright."_ A woman replied – possibly Agent Kemmel? _"It'll probably be in the core of the ship."_

"_Most likely. Especially with so much armor."_

"_Uh… hold on just a minute." _Shari transmitted. _"I'm getting strange readings from the rear of the ship... I think it's the reactor. Some kind of dimensional interference… and I think the anti-magic field is originating from there, too!"_

"_It sounds like a good idea to investigate both of those. I will start with the system just forward of here, as well. I think it may be a weapon of some kind…" _Fate said. _"But we should hurry. Teams check in every two minutes and report in anything you see. Good luck."_

Nanoha checked her map again as Fate and Lightning Team departed, which was quickly revealing the ship's interior to be a labyrinthine network of aimlessly wandering corridors and giant rooms much like this one, plus another layer of service tunnels and catwalks criss-crossing that. It'd be pretty confusing… and dangerous to fight in. On the plus sign, there were almost no crewmen wandering the halls.

"_Agent Kemmel…" _Nanoha transmitted._ "…why don't you head to the tower, and I'll explore the lower areas, and try to deactivate the core."_

"_Err… right." _Agent Kemmel, indeed the woman from before, replied. _"You do that." _

"_It sounds like a good idea." _Fate said, over a private channel. _"Just… be careful."_

"Alright, let's go!" Nanoha ordered, gesturing down the corridor. Four of the Enforcers filed into the hallway, with Nanoha and the other six following shortly after. She figured it would be best to try to hurry towards the engines, which would probably be close to the ship's reactor. If she was right…

"Raising Heart, can you track the source of that dimensional interference?"

"Yes Master." The device replied, an icon indicating the origin appearing on Nanoha's map a few seconds later. "The readings are unstable. Searcher distortion detected. Remote analysis impossible."

"Unstable?" Nanoha asked, stopping in her tracks. Unstable dimensional interference could only be bad…

"The size and intensity of the anomaly are varying rapidly and erratically. Manifold intensity approaches 60%."

That wasn't good. Nanoha directed two of the searchers to head to the anomaly as quickly as possible. It probably wasn't dangerous **now**, but she knew how dangerous a damaged reactor on a Dimensional Ship could be – and that was on a ship a tenth the size of this one. That had to be their highest priority.

"_This is Stars One." _Nanoha transmitted. _"The dimensional interference around the reactor is increasing. I'm heading there as quickly as we can.."_

"_Good idea." _Fate asked _"How dangerous is it?"_

"Manifest intensity will reach 100% in 70 to 80 hours at present rate." Raising Heart said. "Probability of surge causing distortion within next hour approximately .8%"

"_It shouldn't become a full scale distortion for three days." _Nanoha repeated. _"So… it should be safe for now, but there could be a spike."_

"_We'll have to stabilize it eventually, in any event." _Fate replied. _"Make that your priority for now. Meanwhile, everyone needs to be ready to evacuate, in case the situation degrades."_

"_Understood." _Agent Kemmel said.

"_Roger!" _Nanoha replied

"Alright!" Nanoha continued, turning to the team with her. "We're going to try to get that anomaly under control, then we'll start our search from there – it should be in the engine room. Let's go!"

"You heard her!" Her sub-commander, a black-haired forty-something man with short-cropped hair and beard, ordered, his tone fast and harsh. "Box formation, I want two enforcers on each corridor, close combat on the outside, watch for booby traps, you know the drill!"

The enforcers quickly formed up around Nanoha and the sub-commander – it seemed they did indeed 'know the drill', as they were making good time as she led them down the corridor towards the malfunctioning reactor (she hoped), pausing only to check few piles of ruined metal for hazards before stepping over them. Even if there wasn't much of a chance of disaster, she wanted to containing the anomaly as quickly as possible – maybe, she hoped, stopping the interference would clear the jamming around the ship. Or maybe it would do nothing. In any event, she wasn't going to risk Fate's life, or hers, or anyone else's waiting for a technical team to seal it. The quicker they got that done, the quicker they could get back to their original mission – there had to be something in this ship that would be of value to the forces fighting the invaders – and the quicker they could find that… the quicker they could stop them.

Conference Hall 27, Ground Forces Command Center

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1006 Hours

Of course, before anyone could get started on saving the world, there would have to be meetings.

One minute after the meeting had officially begun, Command Center 27 was already filled with noise and activity, and crowded with people. The room was bowl shaped, with a few dozen officers – more or less **only **officers, in fact – sitting at descending rows of tables in a third-circle, like some kind of stadium built around a holographic projector, which was currently displaying a globe, the suspected position of the invaders marked with deep red splotches, more icons indicating battles – including one over Clanagan. Most of the seats were already filled – if not with people, then with monitors connecting absentee officers.

Even in all the bustle, Hayate's hurried entrance had not gone completely unnoticed. A tall older woman in the deep blue Capital Defense Forces uniform, her grey hair tied in a short ponytail, turned to her from her position on the 'stage'

"Lt. Colonel Yagami." She announced – she was definitely a General, judging from her tasseled epaulets, and on top of that, she just seemed like someone in charge. She pointed at a table on the left side of the room, near the front. "Your seat is there. Right side of the table."

Hayate made her way to the designated table, close to the front of the room, at the left edge of the 'Ground Forces' section; and took her seat, a narrow monitor displaying 'Battalion Group C West Actual/Lt. Col. Hayate Yagami' appearing at the front of her desk as she sat down. She browsed through the datapad set on her desk as she began transferring its files to her own track – it was a list of the forces involved in the Special Defense Division, and it was a long list; totaling just under 50,000 personnel – she'd heard of much bigger operations, but it was a lot for such short notice. It didn't include the local units, either. She didn't read through it thoroughly, only going as far as her own name – in command of some 2,500 people; then looked up at her fellow officers.

The CDF officer on her left glanced at her nameplate, looking a little annoyed at her presence. Hayate ignored that, and scanned the rest of the room – there were many different branches of the Bureau represented among the attending officers – the Ground and Aerial Forces, obviously, as well as the Capital Defense Forces, the Dimensional Navy, Enforcers and the Dimensional Patrol Fleet… she even recognized a few people in the blood-red uniforms of the Strategic Weapons Defense Corp, one wearing the cyan uniform of the Maritime Forces, as well as a pair in the red shouldered white of the Special Rescue Service, and some wearing the elaborate armored uniform of the Saint Church Cavalry. There were others, too, representatives of other branches she didn't recognize, and some in civilian clothes.

She even recognized some familiar faces – Chrono, on the far side of the room with the Navy Officers, for one, as well Carim, accompanied by a pair of Church Knights. Less amicably, she also spotted Auris Gaius, looking slightly better than the last time they'd met, both of them trying to avoid each other's gaze, and Inspector Langely, who was looking back at her with a mixture of confusion and trepidation on his face. Even Admiral of the Sector Kuroobero was attending, although only over transmission.

The meeting wasn't quite ready to begin, though; some other officers were also late. General Shendaler, for one, who appeared over a transmission monitor a while after Hayate arrived. He wasn't the last, though. Not a minute later, an Aerial Forces officer quickly rushed in and sat down.

"It seems that's everyone..." The pony-tailed general in the center of the room announced. "…so let's get this conference under way. I am General Ileen Moncure, standing in for General Laito… you all know why you're here."

There were a few murmurs of agreement as the globe zoomed in to a point over the ocean west of Central Mid-Childa, a white icon flashing some distance over the planet. A line descended away from the icon, the view following it as it split into two not far off the western shore, the two lines continuing on, one falling west of Clanagan, the other falling into Foevir forest, a white haze indicating its possible landing zone. An image of a long, thin, square-edged ship with a wedge-like prow hovered over the western icon.

"At 1657 hours yesterday, _C Camelon_ detected a dimensional disturbance approximately 250 kilometers over Mid-Childa." General Mocure continued, indicating the initial white icon. "_XV Lamia _attempted to intercept, but the targets entered the atmosphere before it could establish firing lock. We still don't know how exactly the invaders arrived without being detected, or if there are more coming. Obviously, we can't let that happen again…"

"My squadron can get in position whenever you need." Chrono said. "Admiral Rodefer is also sending the rest of his wing..."

"Oh? You're sure you wouldn't rather be doing our job?" An aerial forces officer asked. There were a few subdued chuckles, presumably in reference to something Hayate hadn't heard about.

"_That's quite enough."_ Admiral Kuroobero replied, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. _"If the 3__rd__ Dimensional Fleet will hold low orbit, my fleet can take position on the periphery…"_

"_Then we can both protect Mid-Childa from another close-jump insertion, and be in a superior position in case of a large scale attack… logical enough." _Another Dimensional Navy officer said.

"What about the possibility of an attack on the moons?" General Moncure asked. Hayate continued to listen with modest interest, even though it wasn't her field of expertise. If nothing else, she'd need to know when the discussion turned to something that was her responsibility specifically, and it'd probably be useful to know anyways. They went on for a few minutes debating whether to keep the arriving fleets close to the planet; in order to defend against another sudden arrival, or to spread out in the general area; which would supposedly be better suited to defending against a large scale attack – Hayate didn't entirely understand naval strategy. They discussed whether there was any threat to the moons, and how many ships to dedicate to each; and then they debated whether the defense platforms were active, and how many – they were, and more or less all of them. Then, someone pointedly asked if the Navy would do anything to aid the war on the ground…

"Of course we will." Chrono replied tersely. "With intelligence and strategic support, as always. The situation is bad enough, without blowing up half the planet trying to stop it, if that's what you're suggesting."

"Figures…" The officer responded.

"Correct." General Moncure said. "Large-scale orbital bombardment is not an option…"

"So you're saying… we should just wait for them to kill the continent first?" A Ground Forces officer interrupted. Hayate sighed. The last thing they needed now, of all times, was for the constant rivalries to resurface.

"_That kind of extreme action isn't necessary." _Admiral Kuroobero said, remaining calm as ever. _"Your planetary forces can almost certainly contain the situation. Like General Moncure suggested with her last statement, if events do run out of hand, we'll evaluate small-scale bombardment as necessary."_

"Two hundred thousand people are already dead." A gray-haired, dark-skinned officer from the Aerial forces said tersely, standing up and leaning forward over his desk. "And you're just going to sit here waiting for them to kill more?"

"We've run the calculations." Chrono explained, standing himself. "We don't know where exactly the enemy forces actually are. Or what kind of defenses they might have. To stop them, we'd need to resort to heavy saturation bombardment. Initial casualties would probably be substantial. But they'd pale in comparison to effects of the environmental damage that would likely result."

"So… you're throwing us to the dogs…" The officer snarled. "…so that it won't rain!"

"Colonel Kanzey." General Moncure said coldly. "You're out of line."

"We can end this now, and you're all… …dithering on politics!" Colonel Kanzev continued, leaning across the table and glaring at the crowd, with no sign of backing down. Everyone in the room was back at him, in indignation or simple impatience. Hayate remembered Nanoha mentioning him once – apparently he was assigned to Fort Cardun as well – and had been rather… upset when high command rejected another proposal for new camouflaged Barrier Jackets. He sounded like a real activist for the Armed Forces then, and even someone Hayate could respect, if he weren't showing so much concern right **now**, of all times.

"_Political, perhaps, but I would not call reluctance to launch a strategic attack on a capital world 'dithering'." _Admiral Kuroobero replied. _"Neither would I characterize a global temperature drop of three to five degrees as 'rain'. Please. We still have very important things to discuss." _

"You mean we do, because –"

"ENOUGH!" General Moncure snapped. "If you can't act like an officer, I'll have you relieved!"Colonel Kanzev glowered at her, then reluctantly sat sank back into his seat.

"Well…" General Moncure continued, adjusting her collar. "I believe we're settled on that issue, and should start moving into position."

"Agreed." Chrono said. "P Fortuitous is too heavily damaged, but the rest of my forces My forces are ready to deploy."

"Very well." General Moncure said decisively, glancing back at Col. Kanzev, who was presently glaring at the floor. "Moving on to the western front… as you may already know, enemy forces have recently overrun Fiene…" A murmur of surprise ran through the room – the monitor displaying the globe zoomed in on Fiene and flattened out, a red splotch creeping out from the crash area, south to Zolice – small icons representing TSAB offices vanishingly all along the way, and then turning east as it reached the Grand Central Highway, finally enveloping Fiene.

"The city was largely evacuated beforehand, largely due to the efforts of the local garrison, and some nearby battalions..." The General explained. "…however, the cost was immense. Fifty percent of the deployed forces were cut off, killed, or otherwise missing in action, and another twenty percent significantly wounded. It was only through the… ingenuity… of Admiral Harlown that any substantial amount of our forces were able to escape. It is also estimated some thirty thousand civilians were trapped as well…"

More shocked murmurs from the assembled crowd – Hayate, too, was shaken by the news – she'd known about the massacre in Zolice, but hadn't heard anything about a defeat like this. As far as she could tell, it wasn't nearly as bad in the south – they'd managed to hold the enemy off in Whithaum, after all… and they still didn't know what happened to the citizens still in the Ork held areas, but there hadn't been any reports of so many dead. Someone asked how many soldiers had been left behind – six to seven hundred. Colonel Kanzev seemed to be struggling to restrain himself from speaking out, and Moncure's announcement that Ground Forces Recon was searching the area, with the RM _Mercy_ standing by if they found a large number of survivors didn't dissuade him at all. Hayate hoped they would find at least some of them alive – but after what had happened in Zolice, it didn't seem likely…General Moncure went on, saying the 'western theatre' would be their priority. Hayate couldn't really disagree, under the circumstances, but she wished they would send _all _her family to one the or the other. In any event, General Moncure explained a bit about the enemy – they were human, but not from any known power – nobody was sure where they were from, but for now, they were simply being called 'Krieg', as one of the few captives had identified them. They relied on old-era energy weapons – especially lasers, as well as mass weapons, with a variety of highly durable armored personnel carriers – 'capable of enduring one point five million range attacks', and favored brutal, direct assaults, supported by Rear-Attack barrages – the general actually used the term 'artillery', which Hayate hadn't heard for a while. No mages had been seen among their forces – more than a few people commented on that – it seemed odd that none of them had any magical talent, or that they had never developed devices, but General Moncure moved on before it could evolve into a full-scale debate.

After assuring them all the ACID weapon would be dealt with – she didn't explain **how**, exactly, but it had something to do with Strikers, which was probably as good an answer as any; Moncure outlined their plan, which was, for once, fairly simple. They would establish their operating base in Novena, about a hundred and thirty kilometers east of Fiene, as the monitor helpfully zoomed in to display the city, a large blue-and-gold TSAB flag appearing over the city. Intelligence supposedly indicated the enemy would attempt to move towards the capital, along the GCH – it was a more likely a guess, although hopefully not a bad one. Battalion groups 'A' and 'E' would split up and harass the enemy, keeping them from leaving the highway – two smaller icons broke off to indicate this, blue and brown arrows pointing towards the red one representing the enemy advance. Meanwhile, the forces in Novena would form a battle line, fortify it, and hold the line when the Krieg attacked.

The monitor zoomed in further, rectangular icons appearing along a small ridge dividing off the western quarter of the city. Hayate saw Battalion Group C's icon – three battalions! – there, along the southern side of the cliff. Groups D and F were both situated a bit further back – General Moncure explained the plan – Groups B and C, as well as the two local battalions, would form a deep defensive line, which would keep the enemy occupied while the units behind would move up – together with the flanking units attacking from behind, which would hopefully allow them to isolate and defeat them. The plan was simple, at least, but seemed like it was all a major gamble; and she didn't like the idea of just waiting for the Krieg to attack them either… she didn't like the whole thing, honestly, but at least it was some purposedirection. The General paused for questions – Hayate had a few, but decided to keep silent; she still felt quite out of place in these high-command strategic discussions, and she was still too dismayed by her sudden 'promotion' to avoid sounding like a fool…

"So, if things do not go well, what's the plan to disengage?" Colonel Kanzev asked. General Moncure glared back at him, as if deciding whether to reprimand him, before realizing he didn't actually say anything out of line.

"We'll fall back in groups, with the fastest units leaving last. All indications are that our forces have a massive advantage in speed. We should be able to outrun them, and rally at Ardenvoir. In that regard, it is imperative that we do not allow the enemy to surround us. That will be the responsibility of your Battalion Group, as well as Group A. The forces at Fiene were trapped because the enemy was virtually on top of them… make sure your lines of retreat remain open, and do not leave anyone behind."

Remarkably enough, that seemed to satisfy him; or at least he didn't say anything further.

"What about the civilians?" A CDF officer asked.

"Evacuation is already underway, pending confirmation from SRS. The entire area will be Code Zero."

Code Zero – anything that wasn't displaying a TSAB tag was to be engaged without hesitation or restraint. It wasn't something Hayate heard very often... It was good news for her, though, since it meant she could use her magic fully, without worrying about collateral damage. It also meant they didn't have to worry about protecting the city during the operation, and they could use all the advantages they could get.

"We're assuming the… Krieg will obediently move along the highway." One of the Knights with Carim asked. "What if they head off in some other direction, attacking the other cities?"

"We don't think that's likely. An assault on the capital is the logical action." Came the response. "If they do, however, we'll be able to launch attacks freely from Novena, and control their movement. Without knowing the exact situation, however, it's impossible to make a definitive analysis."

"We'll make it up as we go, in other words?"

"That's a simplistic way to put it… it's essentially accurate, though. We don't have much else to go on, though. Now, if we could move on…"

General Moncure did, heading on to the southern theatre – Hayate knew most of what she was saying already, explaining about the Orks – apparently they'd also been sighted further south, attacking small settlements and facilities, seizing industrial sites and raiding everything else, which was interesting… then, she announced that Hayate's unit – or what should be her unit – would be leading further research into the Orks. That much was understandable enough, but only reminded her of the absurdity of her transfer. She'd never even commanded a full scale battalion, or any kind of standard combat unit; let alone a front line Battalion Group. She was comfortable with the 31st, and vice versa… there really could be no reason for the move, except to spite her – she still had to do her job though, even if the council expected her to fail. Especially if they expected her to fail.

Hayate realized she'd missed a good portion of the General's briefing – but she vaguely recalled Carim asking if there was a threat to the main cathedral, and General Moncure was currently announcing that Harpin's Curve had reported contact with the Orks. Battalion Group D South was being assigned to move in immediately. General Moncure then announced that all units were to hold their positions, pending further information, and it was over. Hayate didn't recall tuning out for that long – apparently there just wasn't much to say. Either a bad sign, or a very good sign – probably bad…

Without missing much, General Moncure moved to announcing units assigned to discretionary duty: any reinforcements that arrived, five Striker sections, two of Carim's Cavalry troops, six CDF regiments, and…

"Captain Gaius." General Moncure began – Hayate paid sharp attention, confirming that she indeed was addressing her former 'rival'. "What's the status of your unit?"

"Repairs are ongoing." Auris Gaius replied, checking her datapad. "Targeting system is functional, at 70% efficiency. One weapon at Battery A is operational, with another 70% repaired. Battery C has one weapon almost ready, at 95%, and another at 90%. We're heavily understaffed, and if we're going to operate at maximum capacity, we'll need additional personnel, especially repair technicians."

Einherijar was apparently back in business. Hayate had thought it might be canceled after the death of its strongest advocate – in fact, its funding had been slashed to almost nothing, but apparently Auris had somehow been able to continue her father's design… General Gaius had seemed convinced it was a solution to all problems – Hayate didn't think it could be, but it would be a great asset here. It was also, of course, arguably illegal, but she didn't feel like arguing that now, or here.

"Excellent. We'll see if there's an engineering unit available. We could use your support. Any further questions?"

"When will we be getting reinforcements?" A Ground Forces officer behind Hayate's asked.

"We're getting ten battalions from Northern Mid-Childa on Friday, and forces are being rallied at Headquarters." General Moncure replied – today was Tuesday. That probably wouldn't be soon enough to help in the upcoming battle at Novena, but they'd certainly outnumber the enemy soon.

"Will there be any more briefings for the Division?"

"Yes, of course." Came the reply. "There'll be briefings as the situation develops, as well as for each Mobile Brigade."

"Anything else?" The general concluded. Surprisingly enough, there was nothing – Hayate checked the time; 1031, the meeting had been mercifully short. Maybe the events had managed to shake Headquarters into quick action, or maybe the planning hadn't reached their level yet. Either way, it was one bit of good news.

"No sir." A man in a dark grey suit finally yelled from the corner of the room. "Just eager to take the fight to the enemy!"

A few officers proclaimed their agreement – Hayate just raised her hand to signify her assent.

"That's good to hear. Dismissed."

Everyone stood and saluted – General Moncure saluted back, before the crowd broke, up, monitor connections disengaging and officers filtering out of the room. Hayate checked her datapad – she was to meet her units at Fort Westgate, and then move out by 1500 hours. The railways were out, and she didn't have a car, so she'd need to give herself flight clearance, but there wouldn't be a problem with that, since there was a legitimate reason. That meant she could make better time, though, so she didn't have to leave immediately. She walked over to the far side of the room, where Chrono and Carim were still standing near, talking with each other. Hayate spoken face to face in some time – and besides, perhaps they could help somehow. She stepped up, quietly sliding into their orbit.

"Nothing at all, then?" Hayate overhead from Chrono.

"No, nothing…" Carim replied. "Not even a hint. I suppose I could go back and check, but last month was about… I don't know, I think it might have been referring to an ambush on a big convoy out of Nova Belka…"

"You're talking about your prophecies?" Hayate interjected.

"I am…" Carim replied, shaking her head.

"Any idea why we didn't get any warning for something this big?" Hayate asked.

"Most probably, it was just very unlikely." Carim said. "My talent isn't really all that reliable, even if you know what you're looking for…"

"Yeah, I remember." Hayate replied. "It's not your fault."

"I just wish my timing was better. My last… opportunity was six days ago."

"And you have to wait until next month to do it again…" Hayate said.

"Exactly. Since it's partly biological, though, there's a way do to do it again soon. A little risky, but… hopefully it'll be worth it."

"We could use every kind of help we can get, especially intelligence." Chrono said. "As long as you don't do anything too dangerous…"

"I just hope it helps." Carim said. "It might be unpleasant, but this treatment will probably be one of the **least** dangerous things I do this week."

"I'm just hoping we can prevent another disaster." Hayate said. "You told me about about Zolice already, and with Fiene…"

"The enemy's early victories have been mostly due to surprise." Chrono said. "Now that we're aware of them, we'll be able to organize an effective defense. They can't possibly fight the whole planet."

Somehow, Chrono made that perfectly reasonable statement seem ominous. Hayate had no doubt they would win, as long as the enemy force wasn't massive larger than it seemed to be, but she'd still wasn't sure how well she'd do commanding such a large unit, especially by herself. Even if they won, people would certainly die…

"I'm just hoping I don't make any foolish mistakes…""Aren't we all…" Carim said. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to help all that much." Chrono said. "I already have half of Fleet Command pointedly reminding me that Dimensional Ships are not to be used for close evacuation."

"Oh, so that's what you did…" Hayate exclaimed. "I heard one officer mention something like that…"

It was certainly unusual to send a full-scale dimensional ship into ground combat – they were sitting ducks, comparatively, and most couldn't operate at full power – unless they wanted to be followed by their own typhoon, which seldom helped…

"Our forces in Fiene were almost overrun, and couldn't escape, so I had to bring down my ships down to pick up as many as possible." Chrono explained, with the tone of someone telling the same story for the thousandth time. "I'll admit it was risky - once we showed up, the enemy pretty much focused everything they had on us. _Fortuitous_ lost one of its engines when one of their ACID weapons hit it."

Chrono shrugged, and continued. "But we couldn't land dropships, or transfer people fast enough, so there wasn't much of a choice."

"People can get upset over strange things." Carim observed.

"That they can." Hayate said. MPV totals, for instance. "I'd guess it worked out pretty well, though?"

"That's true… still, my fleet will be able to provide some help, and I'll try to convince someone to let us deploy our Fleet Troopers…" Chrono said. "Incidentally, I saw that the Church Cavalry was one of the discretionary units… any idea what you're going to do?"

"Well, there's a lot of concern that the Orks might attack the cathedral, so at least one of my Troops has to remain there. As for the other two, it depends on what happens, exactly – Schach's taking the White Falcons to Harpin's Curve right now, but I'll hopefully be able to send some forces to the west."

"I'd certainly be glad to have you there…" Hayate said.

"Ah, so you are going to be in the west?" Carim replied. "I was confused…"

"Huh?"

"This report has your unit in, I think… three different places."

"Three?" Hayate exclaimed.

"Yep, three… Battalion Group C West, the 31st Special Investigations, and a Ground Forces Battalion… the 398th." Carim said. "Obviously, that can't be right, so…"

Hayate searched her FOR for 398th - there it was, in Battalion Group C South, Commander, Signum Nedes…

"No… Hayate sighed. "I think that's true."

"But that doesn't make sense." Carim replied. "This has you and Signum in different units… on the opposite side of the continent."

"I know…" Hayate said.

"You're saying that your… team… is getting broken up?"

"It's only temporary, but… yes."

"What? That's insane. Who would possibly go against the recommendation of no less than five – possibly as many as seven – flag officers? Who **could**?"

"I don't know…" Hayate replied, unsure exactly what she could say without sounding paranoid. "There were three people…"

"Three people? Who?"

"They never showed their faces… and their voices were disguised…" Hayate said… she might as well answer Chrono's question. He and Carim might think she was crazy, but she still trusted them. "…I think it might have been the Shadow Council?"

"Have you been reading Bureau Watch again?" Chrono replied, although it sounded like a joke. With Chrono, it was sometimes hard to tell.

"No!" Hayate said, laughing timidly. "Well... only a few snippets. But I didn't believe any of it, until…"

"The Shadow Council…" Carim interrupted, sparing her from continuing. "Well, if they exist, they could supposedly make such a decision…"

"There are quite a few people who don't approve of your service, Hayate, and who could make such a reassignment, without resorting to conspiracy theories." Chrono said. "I doubt anyone is triple-checking personnel reassignments at the time, especially anybody with A-level clearance, so it'd be fairly easy to get away with."

"Either way, I'll submit a formal protest." Carim said. "If Hayate's right, it might not help too much, but if it's just normal politics…"

"I'm not so sure of my suspicions anymore, either…" Hayate said, oddly feeling better that it might just be the same people who _normally _wanted her arrested (or whatever it was they wanted), which was a fairly long list. "They were definitely trying to **look** like the Shadow Council, though, and were pretty high up… it was strange."

"I suppose, I could also talk with General Moncure, and see if I can get her to make arrangements." Carim continued.

"That's not really necessary… Chrono has a point, this not a good time to worry about this." Hayate said, taking a deep breath. "I can deal with this, I'm just a bit… taken aback. It'd be nice if you did make that protest, though, that'll make sure this remains temporary, whoever, these people are. I'll write one too."

"That sounds good." Carim replied. "If you need anything; advice, assistance, anything, just ask."

"Great! I was a little afraid you'd all think I was just insane..."

"Hardly…" Chrono said. "I figure if you haven't gone insane **yet**, we're probably safe."

"Uh… Thanks, I guess." Hayate said, shaking her head. "I've got to introduce myself to my new command…"

"Right… we should all probably get on our way. We seem to be close to the last ones here." Chrono said, indicating the now mostly empty room, except for a pair of Aerial Forces officers talking quietly on the far side of the room.

"In that case, goodbye, everyone, and best of fortune to you all." Carim said, bowing politely.

"Goodbye." Chrono repeated. "I'll be at the shipyard if you need my help – although I'm not sure what all I can do.""I'll… talk to you after our victory!" Hayate replied, with not-entirely-truthful cheerfulness, starting for the door. She probably wouldn't be able to use the main entrances, though, but there should be exterior decks she could leave from. Speaking of which… she should probably stay to help, at least for a while. She didn't have to personally talk to the battalion commanders yet. She could contact them now, and tell to them to get ready to leave, and then talk to the Special Rescue Service. She hurried towards the nearest map, preparing a text message for her new command.

[Ready battalions to move, with all units assembled, packed, and able to depart immediately. I will arrive by 1300.] Hayate wrote. She hesitated – even if it was just a short message, she didn't want to make a bad impression…

[I will arrive by 1300, a situation has arisen in Clanagan that I must address. I hope that I will not disappoint you all.] It wasn't a lie, there was certain a situation… and the last part, of course, was entirely truthful. Hayate sent the message, and found her way towards one of the lobbies – there was an officer's lounge with an exposed balcony on the eastern side, not far from here. Luckily, she knew how to find out who was in charge of the recovery effort – she had the infotrack address of the Clanagan Harbor Precinct, and she'd even met its Chief, so hopefully that would work. If she didn't, she could hopefully come up with something. She donned her armor, settled her hat; opening a transmission as she took office towards the exit.

Training Range, 17th Ground Armored Company Headquarters

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 17 kilometers west of the capital city

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1008 Hours

"Infantry! Thirty degrees right! Blast shot!" Jerald Irwin shouted.

"Firing!" Marilyn shouted back from above, punctuated by the thundering roar of the Ordinance Device, followed by a new cartridge clanking into place. "Got 'em!"

Lieutenant Irwin checked his monitor – the targets were gone. He quickly searched the area for anything suspicious – there were no other people around, except a few civilians scurrying for cover, but up ahead, the main road was broken and cracked – it looked like it would be fairly rough to navigate, they'd have to slow down significantly. There was a side road, heading off to the right, and a quick check of Irwin's map confirmed that it too would eventually lead to their destination…

They'd already eliminated the enemy sensor station, now they just had to get out… but if he knew Peersin, then there was certainly going to be a surprise in store for Irwin and his crew. Either one of the paths could lead to a trap…

"Rough ride up ahead." Gil commented – obviously, he'd decided on the 'go straight through' option. Suddenly, a contact appeared on searchers – no, three contacts, closing in quickly through the air. The central contact's profile matched a G-31 gunship… it looked like Peersin wanted to keep them on their toes, no doubt so he could run them into an ambush. Irwin made his decision. He wasn't playing that game.

"Turn left!" He ordered. "Marilyn, one seventy right high!"

"Left?" Gilbert replied, incredulous, but he turned anyways; the 42 megagram vehicle performing a near-perfect slide into a narrowly side street with a grinding roar and spray of dust and asphalt, bumping into the wall of a building and crushing a trash bin as it centered itself. Irwin checked the sensors again – the three contacts were closing in fast, sixteen kilometers to the east; and then he checked the map – there was a suitable road about 800 meters ahead – the faster they got out of the city, the better.

"It's one-hundred left now." Irwin announced. "A G-31 and... looks like aerial infantry escorting it."

"Great…" Marilyn remarked, turning the turret around to face east. "Great! I can barely get the barrel in here…"

"There's a larger road about 600 meters ahead. Turn right there."

"Understood." Gil replied. Irwin went back to the sensors. The gunship and its escorts had split up, with the escorts trying to flank ahead of them. How many mages were the Orussians supposed to have, anyways…

"Aerial infantry moving ahead!" Irwin shouted, as tracking their icons as they raced to intercept – with a bit of luck, they'd beat the gunship to the turn, but there wasn't a chance with the mages – in fact, they were almost on top of them… "Watch the front… multi-shot… wait for it…"

Two a pair of mages flew overhead, splitting up as one flew across their bow and the other turned down the road ahead… Marilyn cursed at missing the opportunity to shoot both together… but, it would never have hit – they were moving too fast.

"Hold on…"

Irwin watched as the one flew ahead; turning back towards them and raising his weapon… pausing for just a moment…

"NOW!"

There was a loud KRAK as another cartridge detonated, a torrent of bolts launching towards the mage. Immediately, he ceased his preparations for an attack on them and veered off, trying cut past the incoming bolts, firing at them wildly as he did…

"Again!" Irwin shouted. Marylyn complied, launching another swarm of bolts to cut off his escape route. The mage immediately came to a halt, just before a half dozen shooters impacted, obscuring the target in a plume of smoke. The searchers, accurately enough, reported the contact falling into a nearby house and fading fast. Marylyn cheered in triumph – but they weren't done yet. The gunship was coming up in the distance, haphazardly strafing with its auto-driver, minute contacts vanishing as houses exploded behind them – Peersin would probably be angry about that, as if he could actually do anything about it. They veered sharply as they reached the road, narrowly avoiding the path of the gunship's shots.

With that, there was only a few hundred more meters until they were out of the city. The other mage was still somewhere off to the right, and the gunship was lining up behind them. Then, just to complicate things, a rocket launched from up ahead swept past them – another rocket fired half a second later had more luck, striking the front of the tank, but it deflected off the barrier without much effect, and they sped past the shooters out into the open countryside.

"Push it, Gil!" Irwin shouted, turning to activate the long-range transmitter. _"This is Rogue 1, under attack by Orussian gunship, need assistance!"_

"Yes sir." Gil replied.

"_Bandit receiving…" _The response came. _"Reinforcements inbound, ETA three minutes."_

Of course. Probably not soon enough to help, unless they were really lucky… Irwin searched the area – they were in a mostly flat, open desert, with only a few outcroppings of rock and a bit of brush. Not good, tactically – and the gunship was already lining up for another pass, and the mage was coming in…

"Keep on our 180! Fire at will, burst shot!" He ordered. "Try to get some cover!"

Their tank thundered up to towards its 600 kph maximum, weaving between larger rocks or clumps of trees. The gunship closed in, gaining altitude – almost the moment it appeared over the city's buildings, Marilyn fired. It broke right, while at the same time, the mage streaked across their field of fire, heading in the opposite direction. The searchers went white in that region for a moment, as someone deployed a jamming beacon, but Irwin could see one of the bolts impact the gunship on visual – its armor barely seemed dented, however, and it quickly recovered, though, leveling out…

An alarm rang out, announcing a radio search lock – another cartridge snapped into place, and Marilyn didn't waste any time. The gunship didn't back down, of course, and the alarm grew in intensity as half a dozen missiles launched… Irwin spotted a small ridge a few hundred meters ahead. An uneven rock, really. It was definitely not in the manual, but…

"Gil! Take us there, now! Traverse to 270, switch to beam, and collapse the barrel…"

Irwin watched the projectiles close on their targets… the gunship deployed another beacon and turned to evade… suddenly, he was thrown forward in his seat as a thundering boom resounded around them, and the screen went white. The mage – of course. Hopefully, this would work… The missiles were close, and their barrier was down a bit, at 85%... but the ridge was closer.

"GIL! TAKE US UP THAT RIGDE!"

"What? It's too…" Marilyn shouted – Gil didn't seem to notice, driving up the small ridge and over its edge, the uneven rock raising their right side far too much to be safe… he launched one of their own jamming beacons, throwing the searchers into disarray for a moment, but the whirling gravity and visual monitors as the tank corkscrewed, and the shriek as the missiles rocketed past were unmistakable. As their tank began to right itself, he acted.

"FIRE!"

Marilyn obeyed, despite the turbulence, and with the barrel locked in place, the recoil kicked them back just enough to slam down on the front of both of their treads, sliding to a halt, and spinning to face their attacker.

"Some wheels broken, auto-recovery engaged…"

"Expand the barrel! Get on the forward device!" Irwin shouted. Marilyn shot him a confused look, but dropped out of her seat and headed for the front. Of course they'd get stuck, and the VTOL was coming around for another pass – they'd hit it, though, and smoke was billowing from either of the forward engines. It couldn't take much more punishment – hopefully the pilot knew it. Their own barriers were at 50%, though, and if they were hit by another missile volley, there would be problems…

A bombardment beam from the mage struck the side of their vehicle, jostling the crew around as Irwin climbed into the turret, checking that the weapon was still in beam mode, and locking onto the gunship. He waited until just the moment it opened fire...

Irwin depressed the trigger, and the Ordnance Device slammed back beside him, coolant hissing from the barrel as the loader retrieved a new cartridge – the beam accelerated towards the gunship, cleaving through most of the missiles – that'll teach them not to bother with evasion programming – and slammed into the tail of the damaged aircraft. A shockwave tore though the ship, and it caught fire as it went into a spiral…

"Marilyn! Shoot the missiles! Gil…"

"Recovery complete, orders?"

"Reverse!"

The vehicle sped backwards, Marilyn firing wildly at the missiles as they closed in… one of two went down at 1100, but the other kept on – Irwin locked onto it with the main cannon, switched to burst, and fired…

Something hit the missile, and it exploded at 200 meters. The remaining mage wisely decided to retreat, going high and fast… that left the objective complete, a dozen some enemies down, only two minutes, eight seconds before their reinforcements arrived, and only minor damage to their 387. Not bad, even with the close call at the end… but they needed the practice for when it counted. They had to have taken out the entire Orussian Republican Army twice; surely they'd be going soon…

"_Alright. Let's cut this short. I need you back fast." _Major Randall Peersin's voice cut in over transmission.

The arid landscape around the tank melted away, the burning wreckage of the gunship and the city beyond vanishing with it, leaving only the gleaming metallic sheen of the range beneath, surrounded by Mid-Childan countryside dotted with military base. Irwin looked back, zooming in, before he got out of the turret – yep, they'd left a good sized dent in the ground where they landed… Gil stopped, switched gears, and turned north to the exit.

"_That little maneuver had to be one of the most brilliantly stupid things I've seen in a damn long time!" _Peersin commented. He didn't seem angry, so much as astounded. _"Get back to base, I've got some important news."_

"Alright, collapse the barrel, clear cartridge, lock the turret, and set navigator for the launch zone…" Irwin ordered, switching their barriers off and switching main systems from 'exercise' to 'cruise'. Marilyn opened the top hatch, as they set off towards base. It wasn't long before they arrived, to find two more KD-387s waiting on the tarmac, their crews standing outside – including Peersin. They drove up and parked beside the others – Gil and Marilyn climbed out, while Irwin stayed to shut down the reactor before following.

"Irwin, Bevins, Rizzio. I'm afraid our little Orussian vacation has been postponed…" The Major announced – Irwin's crew exchanged a series of loaded glances with each other, and Lieutenant Dittemore and Erikson's crew. "…as you may have heard, there's a situation evolving right here on Mid-Childa. The rumors are true. We've been **invaded**…** twice**. We don't who they are, or what their ultimate intention is, but they're mean, tough, and ready for war. According to reports, they've been killing everyone in their path. One of the invading armies has already destroyed Zolice and Fiene – we're being sent to fight them, along with a brigade sized force.

The lot was instantly in uproar, ten conversations going on simultaneously. Irwin had been busy all morning, and hadn't heard anything of the sort… it was certainly big news, and it meant they would be going into a whole different kind of mission…

"Invaded? Twice?" Marilyn exclaimed.

"How could they possibly get here?" Dittemore's driver asked.

"Bastards." Lieutenant Erikson commented

"My aunt lives in Zolice…" His vehicle's gunner said.

"When do we start?" Gibert asked.

"Right now, Sergeant Rizzio. Our orders are to meet up with the rest of the Mobile Brigade in the city of Novena. High Command is pretty sure it's next on their hit list. Everyone, you wanted a war… you've got it. This isn't going to be a simple 'humanitarian intervention' – screw this up, and it won't be some 'just some foreigners' who die…"

Major Peersin paused for effect, before continuing on. "…but I know what you can do. Stay on your guard, remember what you've learned – and don't gamble."

He seemed to stare directly at Irwin as he said that last phrase…

"Alright. Head to your tanks. The other sections are already on their way. Let's get to the battle zone, before they take all the good barracks."


	8. Chapter 5:Preparations & Escapes, Part 1

**Chapter 5 - Preparations & Escapes, Part 1**

Notes: Wow, that took an inordinate amount of time. I seem to have an uncanny ability to accomplish nothing for long periods. But I'm still trying.

I kinda wonder what the heck I was thinking writing this, considering the premise is pretty weird, and a great number of the comments seem to have been negative...

... but it is also *awesome* (at least in my own mind), and I'm not only not stopping (unless you hold me back), but I'm gonna _try _to speed things up. One of the ways I'm doing that is, as you can see, regularly breaking up the chapters into smaller section. If I can avoid being stuck on too many pebbles, this should increase the rate of postings somewhat.

I've also added a small bit of technical data onto the end (taking after a certain Tiberium Wars novelization fic). So I'm taking a survey: does anyone think this a good/bad idea? Should I continue? Possibly suggestions for topics?

Hope to see you 'soon.'

PS: Mandatory trolling for comments.

PPS: Unfortunately my title seems to be a bit bigger than is allowed...

Childa Orbital Shipyard – Docking Bay 7

High Orbit Over Mid-Childa

April 28Teana awoke with a start, finding herself in a warmly lit silver room, with no idea how she'd gotten there. Instinctively, she moved to get up, only to find… **something** connected to her, and draped over her. She glanced back, breathing heavily – the drape was nothing but a bedsheet over her, but there were several tubes trailing to hypoinjectors strapped to her body. Quickly, she looked around – the room was well lit, long, narrow, and entirely metal, except for a series of large windows across from her; opening onto a dark starscape – space. That, and the strikingly crisp emptiness of freshly recycled air told her she had to be on a ship or station of some kind. She wasn't the only person here, either, wherever 'here' was. Other beds like hers filled this side of the room, while the opposite wall had several occupied life-pods lying against it – most of the people inside were in various states of injury, and Teana herself had a new bandage around her chest, which felt a bit numb, with the occasional sharp pain when she moved, a dull headache, and, of course, her arm still hurt. The last things she recalled were being stabbed, and a Krieg officer standing over her, but after that, it was a blur… she couldn't recall how she got here. She doubted the Krieg took prisoners, or would have just left her behind; so she must have been rescued somehow... thinking back, she could vaguely remember a ship, but not much more… stupid veil of the material.

Teana heard a door slide open, and a dark-skinned man with long black hair, dressed in a Dimensional Navy medic's uniform walked in, datapad in one hand, cloth bundle in the other. "Ms. Lanster…" the man stated. "You feeling okay?"

"'Aide Lanster' is fine… and I've been better." Teana replied. "Where is this, anyway?"

"Childa Orbital Shipyard. You think you can move? We've got a lot of wounded."

"Erg… probably." Teana said, shifting to get out of bed, but quickly deciding to stop when she realized she'd been stripped of her clothes. Of course. The back of her chest stung a bit, too, but she wouldn't have trouble moving. "I'll need clothes, but… what happened to me, anyways?"

The man dropped his package on her bed, and began to read from his datapad. "Quite a bit. From the looks of it, you were stabbed… there was damage to your intestines and kidney, and major internal bleeding… you lost a lot of blood. Slight concussion too, nothing to worry about. A few minor burns. We had to perform transfusions, minor organ regeneration… you have anything against cyborgs?"

"Only the annoying ones." Teana replied, smirking slightly. "Why?"

"Annoying… no idea what that means, but… the damage to your left kidney was too extensive to heal efficiently. We couldn't repair it… so we removed it. Things are a bit busy now, but you'll be able to get a replacement soon – and you should.

"Wonderful." Teana said curtly. "I'll do that…" She'd been hurt before, but this was the first time she was quite so badly injured in the line of duty… but at the moment, she didn't really feel too strongly about it. She'd have to get implants, yes, but she was still going to fight – she remembered that much. In fact, she was almost glad that there wasn't time to make a replacement now – she knew she couldn't stand to have taken that time… incidentally, what time was it?

"How long was I out?"

"Just over two hours. Don't worry; the planet hasn't exploded while you were unconscious." The orderly said.

"That's… nice." Teana said. She supposed that **was** good news, even if it seemed a little faint. She hadn't been unconscious very long either, which was also probably good news. She still felt sore and disoriented, and really wouldn't mind some more rest – a lot more rest, actually; but the doctors would need the space, and she needed to find out what she'd missed, so it wasn't that hard to decide. She unwrapped the bundle, finding it to be a plain white shirt and shorts, with a disposable communicator and several adhesive bandages.

"… I should probably give you back your bed." She said, removing the injectors and stepping out of bed, quickly donning the clothes she'd been provided. They were stiff and obviously poor quality, but it was better than nothing. She was midway through putting on the shirt when she realized what was missing – Cross Mirage was nowhere to be seen. She snapped the shirt down over her head, and spun around.

"What happened to my device?" She asked, dully noticing a tinge of fear in her own voice. She knew she would never have left it behind, but… it certainly wasn't anywhere around here. Fate wasn't anywhere around here, either, come to think of it, but Teana wasn't worried about having dropped her…

"Probably in the armory. That's where we put all the equipment. Check the communicator…"

That made some sense – they probably didn't have time to organize equipment… Teana finished putting her shirt on, and unfolded the screen on the communicator. Something like this wouldn't be able to reach between planets, but it would allow her to access the TSAB database on the station. Any information would probably be on there, and any official messages…

"Right. I've got lots of work to do, so…"

"S'okay." Teana said, shrugging as she pulled her shirt on the rest of the way. "One more question."

"Yes?" The man replied, the beginning of annoyance in his words.

"Has anyone been here with me? A tall woman with long blond hair, maybe?"

The man shrugged. "Haven't seen anyone."

"So where do I…"

"Pick a door. It's pretty much like this all over. Just don't touch anything."

"Right…" Teana responded, slowly making her way over to the door where the orderly had entered, stumbling as she tried to recover her balance. She still felt dizzy… but she'd coped with worse, in much worse situations. She just needed somewhere to sit down, and didn't dare trying to read the communicator while walking right now…

The door opened onto a large docking bay. She was on the… third level; the large, sharp, two-hulled shape of a P-class destroyer floating in the cut-out in the middle of the bay. Perhaps even the ship that rescued her – it was definently a P-class, she could remember that now. And considering its position, near her bed…

The room was just as brightly lit as any good government building could be expected to be, but it's former gleam had been marred by bits of debris, liquids of various sorts, and other just plain messiness. There were people here, too; scattered around the edges of the room, most of them covered in bandages, various uniforms dirty and tattered, or replaced with cheap white linen like hers., and looking varying degrees of dejected, fuming and confused. Teana couldn't imagine she looked much better. Getting up and walking around had been manageable, but harder than she expected – she certainly wasn't ready to do much of anything extreme right now. Well, technically, she supposed, a very long bath could be considered extreme, but that idea seemed utterly blasphemous under the circumstances…

For the moment, though, she didn't think about that, and walked over and collapsed against the wall, unfolded her communicator, and accessed the network.

[Welcome, Vice Enforcer Teana M. Lanster.] The familiar message displayed across the fold-out screen. [You have three new personal messages waiting, and twenty seven alerts.]

Twenty seven? Usually, it averaged five a day, maybe two of which were actually relevant. With the situation, though… it wasn't surprising. Updates, battle reports… a short history of the invasion, no more than a paragraph long... Still disoriented, she squinted down at the screen, and began to read. Much of it was already familiar, the massacre of Zolice, the Krieg's march south, the battle of Fiene… but much wasn't. A whole second front around Foevir forest – apparently against a completely different adversary – that were reportedly an undiscovered alien race. The news from that front was mixed – a major assault on Whithaum had been stalled, but contact with numerous towns further south had been lost. There'd been a brief battle at the resorts south of Fiene – three full sections missing, 7,500 civilians assumed dead. Another alert from the southwest, warning everyone to keep a look out for enemy helicopters, they often preceded an attack… reinforcements on the way from HQ – so there was some good news, at least; the forces at Fort Foevir were going on high alert, the SRS ship _Mercy _was assigned to search for survivors in Fiene, an ACID attack on Clanagan…

Teana blinked, certain she had read that last notice wrong. She read it again, twice, still not comprehending until the third time… someone had launched an ACID attack on the capitol. Had succeeded – no numbers, yet, but 'substantial casualities… This was supposed to be impossible – there were all kinds of defenses. Missile intercepts, barriers, reinforced buildings… and besides… ACID attacks just didn't happen on administrated worlds. Then again, invasions didn't happen on administrated worlds either. So… either the invaders had done the impossible… or, perhaps worse… they had already arranged for this – placing a weapon there beforehand, or sabotaging the defenses or the like. The current supposition was that they crashed here by chance, but...

It **was** something to consider – later, when she had more evidence to review, hadn't just awoken from surgery, and wasn't half expecting an even worse problem to somehow materialize any moment…

Teana looked up as she suddenly heard a commotion on the nearby end of the dock, and watched absently as a team of medics and doctors emerged from an elevator near the center of the dock, pushing several stretchers in front of them – wounded being taken from wherever the medical facilities were, to... she couldn't really guess. Possibly more beds, like where she had been; or life-pod assemblies. Or the morgue.

She sighed, returning to her communicator, and opened her messages. The first was a text message from Agent Rouen at Enforcer Command, the second from Fate, and a third from Agent Rouen again. So Fate was okay – not that she expected anything else. That message would be the first she'd watch.

As the message began, she immediately noticed Fate didn't look terribly well – she had a small bandage on her cheek, seemed to be missing a chunk of her hair, and her expression was serious and her posture slightly slumped – but Teana knew her well enough to know that indicated she was definitely upset.

Fate's image fidgeted slightly, adjusting her hair, and looking down at a piece of paper in her hands; before she began speaking, hesitant at first _"I… apologize for not remaining with you, but… a crucial opportunity arose – and the doctors are certain you'll recover quickly…" _She glanced back down at the paper, before discarding it._ "So. I'm sure you'll be alright – I know how strong you are."_

_"Unfortunately, I can't explain the mission at the moment…" _Fate said, looking downwards again, even without her notes. _"…or be certain when exactly I'll return. But it shouldn't be long. However, until then…"_

_"Oh!" _Fate exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. _"Uh…You're probably wondering where Cross Mirage is – safe, to start with. It's currently in the station's device bay for retrofit. Shari already had the designs from when we were all at Section 6… and I figured it would be useful. I hope you don't mind…"_

Teana didn't mind. Now, at least she knew where Cross Mirage was – she **had** been certain she'd brought it with her. Retrofit… that was probably good news.

_"… It might take some time, but not later than the end of the day. The mechanics will tell you the details of the improvements when you get there."_

Definitely good news… upgrades were pretty much always helpful…

_"Until then… and perhaps after… Chrono told me that you may use the Zero-G training chambers on the shipyard if you wish. I know that you've been trying to learn flight magic for a while, and I supposed that if you were able to practice flying... well, if you could experience it and practice in an environment where it's easier… you might learn more quickly? I'm not sure, but if you want to try, the option is available."_

Fate stared down indecisively for a moment, before moving on. Teana thought it was a good suggestion too… She'd long ago gotten over the idea of having too much in the way of advantages, but still, while an upgrade to her device was helpful, an upgrade to herself was even better. Besides, she knew enough of the principle from drop training, so… without resistance, this might actually work.

_"Well… I don't have much else to say. When I return… I'm sure I can find some way for the two of us to contribute – I suspect you'll want to? If you need anything, we can talk then – until that time, goodbye… and good luck._

Fate's image faded away as the monitor switched back to the message list. Her final 'suspicion' was certainly right – Teana very much wanted to 'contribute'. More than that… she owed the Krieg some payback. Even without considering the atrocities they'd committed, they'd beaten her twice – and hurt her, at that. Her body felt sore, and, if she thought about it, they were quite possibly the most dangerous enemies she'd ever faced (although from what little she'd heard, at least one of her former foes would stridently dispute that). Nevertheless… she couldn't let that stand. It was her job, obviously – but beyond that… she still had a lot to prove. Her name was scarcely even _mentioned _in the official reports or media coverage of the Jail incident…

Before she got too bitter, there were still two text messages she hadn't read – both from Enforcer Command. The first was from earlier this morning, while the second was quite recent, after the battle at Fiene. Reading the first didn't improve her mood…

[To: Western Site Invader Mobile Investigation Team]

[From: Agent Borello Rouen K.]

[Subject: Krieg Prisoner]

[There's been a very unfortunate development recently, which will likely delay progress significantly. Our unidentified Krieg prisoner was found dead in his cell at 0816 hours – investigation into the specific circumstances is underway, but it is presently believed the cause of death was a self-inflicted cervical fracture. This occurred some time before Enforcer Niera arrived, so we were unable to conduct any interrogation. We have received a general emergency dispensation, so she will be remaining here for the time being, in the event we have cause to examine any other prisoners.]

Teana wasn't sure how a 'self-inflicted cervical fracture' worked, but it demonstrated a just… frightening… amount of devotion. It couldn't be a good sign, either. She was fairly dedicated herself, and could be reckless from time to time, but the enemy barely seemed to care about self-preservation. They knew how to protect themselves; to use cover, suppression, and the like – but at the same time, didn't even seem to notice their casualties… which made some sense. Surely they'd figured magical damage generally didn't kill by now, and they had the numbers to swamp anyone in their path, so from a certain perspective it was logical... Still, it was a double-edged sword ; their aggressive tactics might mean they would be a little more vulnerable. Right now, she was at a loss how to exploit it… but she'd have some time before she needed to. That left one message, which, at least, wasn't bad news.

[To: Western Site Invader Mobile Investigation Team]

[From: Agent Borello Rouen K.]

[Subject: New Prisoner Procedure]

[Agent Harlown reports that she has managed to capture another member of the Krieg invasion force, potentially an officer or ace of some kind. Navy personnel will transfer him to Childa Cord Upper, where Enforcers Monell and Canoy, as well as a team of their choice (pending approval) will take custody, and transport the prisoner to Antone Boyle. Obviously, extreme caution is necessary. The prisoner is to be kept bound at all times, and immediately placed in confinement upon arrival, and continually guarded. I will attempt a conventional interview… although I'm not especially confident in our chances. Enforcer Niera will be on-scene, in the event her talents become necessary.]

Fate hadn't mentioned that… hopefully, they'd be getting some answers from that, even if it had to be in an unpleasant way. She supposed she could potentially head down to the Enforcer Command Center – but, she'd rather at least wait until Fate returned – and she was afraid that the Director would assign her some minor duty, or worse, send her home. Besides, the cord was almost certain to be packed – it'd probably be at least a day before non-emergency traffic was even allowed.

Teana folded away the communicator, and leaned back against the wall. She felt a prick in her chest – training, of any sort, was going to be arduous. At least this kind of flight training wouldn't demand so much movement from her. The pain wouldn't help her concentration… but she doubted it would go away in a few days, so she'd just have to work with it. It wasn't like she was never going to have to fly under stress – at least, hopefully it wasn't like that. Still, it was unpleasant – pressing her left hand gently against her injury, she focused the basic pain-relieving spell she'd learned in first aid training, and the sting slowly dulled, although it refused to subside entirely.

Her next move, Teana figured, should probably be the device bay. Even Fate, Nanoha, and the like needed their devices to fly effectively; so the extra power Cross Mirage could provide would be vital - to say nothing of the help it could provide with the aerodynamic calculations that were often necessary. Teana had no doubt she could have done them herself, but it'd be an unwelcome distraction… and this didn't seem like an optimum time to be doing math, anyways. Not to mention, she wanted to see what the new upgrades were…

She stood carefully, her wounds only smarting slightly, thanks to the pain-relieving spell, and wondered where the device bay was. Ah – she retrieved the communicator, and opened it. She had at least one more use for it…

Logging in, she quickly accessed the station's information, and attempted to download a map. Not much luck. For some reason – probably because the communicator cost less than 100 Caps – it only supported a series of two-dimensional maps. Which were not searchable. Also, it had no static memory, so she'd have to leave the communicator active in order for it to work. There were over a hundred decks, each of which was at least a hundred meters across, so… yeah, no luck.

She tried searching for Cross Mirage specifically, and actually got something – an entry in the public maintenance logs, which she quickly accessed. It wasn't terribly informative – most of what it was saying was just basic information, but it did have a few helpful portions.

[DECK 7 DEVICE BAY MAINTENANCE REGISTRY]

[SERIAL: 9 M-190-46 / CALLSIGN: Cross Mirage / TYPE: Intelligent, Parallel Process Nanocrystalline Core / MANUFACTURE: Corvan Technology Corp. / CLASS: Watchman Activatable Pistol Device (Customized)]

[MAINTENANCE TYPE: Diagnostics, core upgrade, subsystem installation.]

[STATUS: Condition Yellow. Maintenance incomplete. Estimated time to completion 1:34 hours.]

Well, now she knew where the device bay was, but unfortunately, the upgrade wasn't done yet – and now she just wanted to know what it was even more. There wasn't much time left, but since it was probably enough to reach the Zero-G rooms, and at least get cleared and situated, she thought she might go there first. She only had a few hours of experience in Zero-G, so she'd need all the time she could to orient herself – or disorient herself… whichever was the appropriate term. Hopefully, she'd have an easier time than before – she had serious training to do, and didn't want to waste time looking like an idiot. In any case, finding the chambers shouldn't take long – it was one entry in a series of directional arrows lining the walls. Teana started along the prescribed path, hoping she could find some anti-motion sickness drugs beforehand.

Kaiden III Battlegroup, 7Colonel Von Ferrograd sat rigidly in the tattered upholstery of the Salamander's command chair, fixated on the chart table before him. Their map had been pieced together from intelligence captured in the enemy's conquered military bases and frivolous images clearly intended for civilian use. He followed the grey line of their path from their target, to the dense line of black icons that indicated their own position. Entirely too dense a line...

They rode on the inside of the great viaduct, to protect from aerial attack or observation, but leaving them greatly constrained, and with only a small cluster of pickets to protect them from a sudden attack. Outside, the sound of a dozen engines was amplified by the stone-like structure into a deafening roar; and likewise their fumes would strangle an unprotected man in minutes. A lesser soldier might be perturbed by discomfort, but Von Ferrograd cared only for the threat of a trap - visibility and audibility were virtually nonexistent...

"… somehow the building remains. The moment of impact obscured whatever mechanism protected it." A voice crackled over the convoy's din, an identifier light flashing on the chart table identifying it as Colonel Notting. "Whether it was armor, a void shield… or something darker."

"Most interesting, Colonel Notting." Von Ferrograd replied. This would make matters more challenging, but confirmed his suspicions – the complex that held that tower was vital. That was consistent with what they had gleaned from the foe's… cogitators. They could not be certain of its veracity, but the data the traitor had given them named it as a great fortress - even as the heart of their enemy's army... the latter was preposterous - Planetary Headquarters on Krieg alone spanned three-point-five thousand kilometer square... but there was something there.

"Our new intelligence reports it to be surrounded by an urban area." Commissar Bezeika said. "Thus, even if our primary target survived, it is likely significant damage was inflicted on the surrounding environs. Continued bombardment, possibly with a spread pattern, may be beneficial. It is difficult to ascertain the extent of the damage at present, as any smoke rising from fires is indistinguishable from that of the explosion. We should also consider dispatching a probe, launching an observer rocket, or, potentially conducting a flyover when Harrian returns with aerial vehicles. It is also possible that... "

The Commissar continued on for some length of time about various warhead types and their effects, apparently for the benefit of any phantom listener in that did not already know. Their supply of missiles was ultimately limited, but, although small, the Star of Heaven had been carrying supplies not just for their own Korp, but also for the rest of the Battlegroup; making it an arsenal far beyond normal expectation - where a Line Korp might typically have ten Deathstrike warheads of various types, they had dozens. At this rate, they were likely to run out of men to fire them before warheads… it was easy to resolve a decision.

"Then we continue." Colonel Von Ferrograd said, when Commissar Bezeika had finished. "Barrage Plan Ganre-7. Prepare the launchers tonight, and fire as the Korp breaks camp."

"That will certainly help increase the pressue against them." Commissar Einz said in conclusion. "In the meantime, there is good news. We have reviewed autopsy reports from the initial battles, and data from the morning's fight. Despite initial fears, after extensive examination, our medicae conclude that there is still no sign of abnormal long-term effects of the enemy psychic weapons."

"Nothing?" Von Ferrograd asked in disbelief. Weapons that did not kill… it was an absurdity, as if they were resolved only to demonstrate their own weakness. The process that resulted in such a decision was incomprehensible – but then, the minds of the warp-touched were nothing one could understand, or would wish to…

"Nothing. I can only suppose they intend to capture prisoners for some unsavory purpose." Einz repeated. "That said, they have not succeeded, and I believe no harm has yet been done. The affected troops may be returned to battle."

Von Ferrograd nodded. "That will certainly improve our chances – but we must be doubly sure not to risk being overrun." Even if he found it difficult to imagine that there wasn't some other hidden agenda, he didn't disagree with the premise - and if he had, he was not foolish enough to contradict the Lord Commissar. Returning the troops to the line meant they would recover from each battle they won, while the enemy... would not. So long as they were not wholly defeated in a sudden assault, they would be able to hold out for some time...

Einz said no more, so Von Ferrograd continued. "There are only a handful of small settlements in our path – barely worth destroying. We will eliminate any psykers along this highway, but not pursue targets beyond... in the event our forward scouts spot an enemy concetration, we will form up, fortify, and press the advance on them until they are destroyed."

"Assuming they don't advance on us first." Major Caulen interjected as the Colonel paused. He briefly wondered why his old commander before and Einz now tolerated this kind of continued impudence, but he was too useful, and the situation to dire, for anyone to do anything...

Still, even with only static picts of the various commanders on the chart table, the tension seemed evident - and with good reason. Moving in this tight a formation, constrained inside a massive viaduct, and at this reckless speed - it all made them vulnerable to an ambush. Too vulnerable. But the Commissars had deemed them safe, and they – especially Einz – had insisted on this plan. He explained.

"We dealt the enemy a telling blow this morning. They will likely fall back to recover their losses, and prepare for a second battle. Our assessment of their combat capability suggests they will not attack in force for at least a week. That said – we must remain alert. Our intelligence indicates the enemy has a strong contingent of covert stormtroopers - accordingly, we must be aware of the possibility of ambush, or -"

A sharp crack reverberated from further along the tunnel, and the Salamander jerked backwards with a thump.

"-traps." Von Ferrograd finished without a moment's hesistation. He quickly adjusted the vox to call the forward platoon officers. "Report."  
The response came in a few seconds later. "Yes milord. This is Lieutenant Londa-48171, 3rd Company. An explosive device has detonated in the middle tunnel, just behind the front of the column. We have one man with major injuries - six others unconscious, some with minor injuries. A Leman Russ has taken moderate damage to its tracks. One Centaur has been heavily affected. I believe it has been wholly compromised. There's heavy rubble ahead, it will take some time to clear."

"Understood. Stay on alert." Von Ferrograd turned the vox back to its previous state, and called his officers. "Just as I was saying. A charge has just been detonated at the front of the column. Major Caulen - dispatch engineers immediately. Everyone - go to alert three, a covert attack may be imminent. Sweep the area for additional charges, and get us moving again. Deploy pickets and minesweeper teams down the viaduct. I don't want to risk losing any more material than necessary."

"Clear the area quickly if you can." Einz added. "Speed is essential, and we must not risk the chance of Harrian arriving at the rally point before us, thus potentially allowing vital supplies to be cut off, and fall into the hands of the heretics..."

"However, I know how skilled you are in these matters. I have full confidence we will be clear within a quarter hour." Einz continued. It sounded less like an expression of confidence than a command. Very well. Von Ferrograd didn't appreciate rushing ahead in such a manner... but if the Commissar wanted fifteen minutes... then he'd get fifteen minutes, no matter whether he liked the consequences or not."

Northern District, City of Harpin's Curve

South-Central Mid Childa, 464 Kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar, 1026 Hours

_"Harpin's Curve Council; this is GF 283."_ The voice of Ground Forces Battalion 283's communications officer echoed. _"We're trying to slow them down, but these 'Orks' just keep closing. They're brutal at close range, so we're falling back to the third line."_

_"What?..." _A councilman replied in shocked disbelief. _"Damn... __**where**__ are the reinforcements?"_

_"The 1038th Aerial is underway... they'll be here in just under half an hour. We're taking a beating, but we can hold out for that long. If they keep pressing, though, we may end up holding at the bridges. What's the status of the evacuation?"_

_"Chief Kohl here." _The head of the Harpin's Curve SRS precinct said calmly. _"It's currently underway. The northern edge is clear up to the suburbs. Most of the major industrial sites were closed to begin with... but the streets are packed, and we have huge numbers injured from enemy attacks."_

_"Understood. I'll see what we can do about their bombardment attacks. We'll get you as much time as we can. Godspeed."_

Subaru Nakajima sped northwards along the streets of Harpin's curve. She had to do something. She knew that... but she was afraid she'd never be able to do **enough. **She didn't even know **what** she should do... at first, she'd been more or less moving about aimlessly, helping anyone who'd been injured by the Ork helicopters - that was quite a lot, apparently they'd been firing on the city, and something about them made the force of their passage stronger than it should be. Most of the people she treated had been hurt by that, or flying debris. When they hit, their weapons... generally didn't leave enough to help. It was... sickening, to say the least.

She did what she could to stabilize the wounded - at least those that weren't too bad... but then, as it became obvious that there were actually a whole bunch of Orks out there, the Special Rescue Service started to evacuate the northern district, and since she was a member of the Special Rescue Service, after all, she figured she should help with that, and leave healing to the actual medics. Of course, it was the local Disaster Management staff doing the actual directing, not SRS - so mostly, she'd been dealing with any kind of problem she heard about: a few times, there'd been a bad collision as a frightened driver overrode their autopilot in an attempt to speed away, and she'd had to clear the roadways. There were still people who were lost or hurt, and she helped there whenever she got the chance. Some routes had been damaged and needed to be repaired, cleared, or avoided... she even rescued a kitten that had crawled into a storm drain when it heard the battle. That one wasn't an official assignment - not nearly important enough - but it did make her feel marginally better.

All the while, she could hear the noise of fighting in the distance - a continous racket of sounds all mixed together, like a big machine that was half-broken, interrupted by the faint thunder of bombardment spells, and other sounds that weren't as familiar - probably Ork weapons, although she couldn't be sure. She was pretty sure, though, that sounds were growing louder, and every once in a while, she'd hear a much closer explosion... she'd passed by a few areas that looked like something had hit there Subaru had wondered just what was going on, so Mach Caliber had accessed the Joint Response track for the city. It didn't sound good.

From what she'd heard, the mages were constantly falling back to keep the Orks from getting to close. Apparently, they didn't think their Front Attackers and such could beat them... or they'd already tried, and lost. It sounded like they were outnumbered pretty badly, too. Which came back to the present problem - she had a vague idea of going to confront the Orks herself, but hadn't been making much progress - she wasn't even at the river yet. Other things kept constantly coming up, for one; but beyond that, she wasn't really sure she even wanted to fight.

What she wanted was to help people, and if she kept going around like this – searching for anyone who had gotten lost, treating injuries, rescuing trapped people – she knew she could do something, at least. In battle, she wasn't so sure. She kept constantly going over the reactor in her mind, wondering what she'd done wrong; searching for something she could have changed, something she missed. She wished she could say that she hadn't found anything, but that wasn't true. She'd found lots of mistakes. She couldn't know if correcting any one of them could have saved her comrades – maybe none of them could have. She wasn't sure if that was better or worse than knowing.

At that moment, Mach Caliber dinged and brought up a monitor, wiping Subaru's thoughts of the morning's disaster away. Her searchers had found isolated lifesigns nearby, about half a kilometer away. There was no kind of recognition tag, so they had to be civilians. There were other Disaster Management and SRS personnel in the area, but she was the closet. She made her decision immediately, and veered off, passing three blocks before closing in on the source of the signal, a squat three story apartment complex. She quickly found the building where the life signs were, and a small cellar entrance at its side. Judging by the position of the reaction, whoever was inside had to be down there.

Subaru moved up and removed the rod from the cellar door, hearing something clatter away behind it. She opened it anyways - only to find another door behind it, this one opening inwards. Okay... she tried to open that door, only to find it was stuck or jammed. Before she could decide whether to force it open, another conversation came over the JRT...

_"Harpin's Curve Council; this is GF 283." _The comms officer announced. _"We have another problem. There's a second Ork force coming in on the eastern side of the river."_

_"Council:" _The same councilor or secretary or whatever from before replied, sounding much more haggard than last time... _"What do we do now."_

_"We're falling back to the fifth line. Sections 7 and 8 will slow the main force down - they're still pressing. But we can't let ourselves get flanked."_

_"Chief Kohl." _The council person asked._ "What's the status of the evacuation?"_

_"Mostly complete." _Came the reply._ "The northern riverbanks have yet to be evacuated, and we have no practical way to comfirm the citizens are evacuated."_

_"GF 283: The 1038th Aerial is halfway here. I think we can hold them that long, although..." _She hesitated a second. _ "... we may have to try new tactics. We can slow them down, at least."_

"The reaction has moved. It is just beyond the doorway." Mach Caliber interjected as the transmission ended. Subaru nodded. Apparently they'd noticed her attempt at entry... it sounded like things were just getting worse at the battle, but she doubted she'd make that much of a difference by herself. In any case... she had to finish this.

"Special Rescue Service!" Subaru shouted. "Are you okay? Can you come out?"

"Subject Appears Armed." Mach Caliber said. "Highly Elevated State of Alert."

Subaru quickly stepped back. That wasn't good... she didn't want to risk hurting someone while trying to rescue them. "It's okay." She said. "My name is Subaru Nakajima... "I'm here to help."

She paused. "If you can hear me, please just knock on the door."

"No response." Mach caliber replied. "Stress indicators remain elevated."

She wasn't going to help anyone if she didn't get through that door, Subaru thought. First, though, she needed to see... a message scrolled across her vision as infrared sight activated, revealing the faint bright-red shape of a woman just behind the door - she was clearly holding a weapon of some sort, pointing it at the door. For a moment, Subaru hesistated, wondering if this was safe - then her mind immediately went back to the reactor. Maybe if hadn't been as concerned for herself... if she'd moved faster, or fought more aggressively, or left her cybernetics on longer... it would never have happened. But she'd been afraid... and her comrades had died because it. If she hesitated for this...

No. She couldn't make the same mistake again! Subaru pressed her boot against the door and pushed it open, the metal rod barring the way snapping and sending the door flying open. The woman within jumped back in surprise, only to stumble over herself and fall on her back. She began to reach for her fallen weapon, but quickly abandoned it as Subaru leapt down into the basement and skated to her side.

"You... you're human?" The woman stammered. She was just under middle age, dressed in a set of simple tan workpants and shirt, with a sharp black ponytail and a fiery expression in her almond eyes.

_Close Enough. _Subaru thought, smiling despite herself. She held out her hand. "Sorry about the door... I tried calling to you..."

"Well I didn't hear you." The woman replied tersely, retrieving her weapon as Subaru lifted her up. "Hopefully you didn't break it too much..." Now that she got a good look at it, Subaru recognized it as some kind of lever-action scattergun... the weapon itself could be liscensed for hunting - but the oversized aftermarket rail capacitor attached to the action...

"You know that's illegal, right?" Subaru pointed out.

"Do you want to arrest me?" The woman scoffed, walking over to the doorway and inspecting it a bit before closing it. "Looks like the door isn't damaged too much... so that's okay."

"No!" Subaru quickly replied back - worrying about an ERA violation wasn't a big deal now, and she wasn't a law enforcer anyways. Still - they had to get out of here quickly, the fight was still going on in the north, and things were just going to get worse the longer she spent."We should probably go... fast."

"What? I've got more rods over there." The woman replied dismissively, gesturing back into the corner. "Plus, enough supplies for a month, not to mention a dread 'mass weapon'." - she actually made air quotes when she said that - "I'm not about to everything to some... aliens, no matter how afraid everyone else is. I'm staying... I suppose you could hide out her too, so long as you don't make an annoyance of yourself..."

Well, that ruled out that plan, at least if Tia was to be believed... not that she was really considering it. True, Subaru was kind of impressed - there was not only an impressive pile of supplies in the back of the basement, but she also saw a monitor screen, a computer, several couches... it looked like she'd dragged the entire contents of her apartment down here. That would take **her **a really long time to do... and there was at least a bit of sense in it... but it would never be enough.

"No thanks..." Subaru said. "There's not much time..."

"I'm not -"

"Priority JRT Transmission." Mach Caliber interjected. Subaru nodded reluctantly. It could still be good news...

_"... with Ork forces south of their position." _The relayed message began, the communication officer talking even faster than before. _"They're attempting to evade. I suppose the good news is the Orks are all committed... how are we doing with the evacuation?"_

Or not.

_"It's still underway." _Chief Kohl replied. _"I think we've gotten everyone out that we will, but there are still quite a few cars on the road."_

_"Anything more... specific?" _The councilor asked.

_"80 to 90 percent is south of the river. I can't be sure beyond that."_

_"Hold on. Recieving new transmission. The command section is surrounded - they're going to try to fight their way out. The rest of the battalion is... wait…" _The comms officer went silent mid sentence. _"... I just lost contact with the commander."_

_"What you mean, 'lost contact'?" _The councilor asked, panicky.

_"His transmitter is down, and I can't get a transmission to anyone in his squad. …I can't even get details on __**anything **__that's going on. Our forces are almost surrounded, but… some of them are escaping."_

There were several seconds of silence, where Subaru could practically feel the awkwardness. Finally, the city councilor spoke… _"We're screwed, aren't we?"_

_"I'll try to keep what's left of our forces in order, and the Aerial Forces should be here..." _The communications officer answered, her voice trailing off. _"Yeah. I'm out of ideas."_

_"...Cut it off." _Subaru messaged Mach Caliber. _"I don't need to hear any more."_

She'd delayed too long, and the Armed Forces had lost the battle before she even got there, and lots of people had died. Maybe, if she'd been there, things would have been different... perhaps she might not have changed the outcome, but she could have saved someone. Subaru slumped against the wall, sighing. She was tired of being too late, of not being able to save anyone...

"So... what's going on?" The woman with her asked.

"The Orks... just defeated the Ground Battalion." Subaru replied.

"Oh... I guess we're rather stuck here, then? You're still welcome to stay too, if you'd like." The woman asked. This time, Subaru considered it for a moment. The situation was bad, really bad, but...

She was wrong about not being able to save anyone. She'd helped around fifty people earlier. And probably… she could still save more people. Starting with the woman here. If she couldn't convince her to leave, then maybe she could be safe here – at least as long as the Orks didn't have searchers. One way or another, though, she realized hadn't even asked her name, and there was no way she would let her get hurt without at least knowing her name…

"Maybe…" Subaru replied with a shrug. She probably wouldn't - there was too much to do - but she wouldn't be rude, and maybe... "By the way, what's your name?"

"Karol." She replied, pausing slightly before continuing. "Karol Overbaugh."

"I'm Subaru Nakajima, happy to meet you!.." Subaru said, the sentence breaking off. "Well… not really happy… I mean I am! But… right now... I mean… well, you know…" She scratched her hair in embarrassment… "…eh… yeah."

Karol looked at her quizzically. "Mmm-hmm." She hummed, leaning against a wall herself. "I think I understand. Can you help me put this barricade back together?"Subaru nodded, although the 'barricade' would probably never last if the Orks wanted, but... maybe it could slow them down? She looked around for some kind of material to strengthen the door. There wasn't much...

"Wide Area Search Complete. Seven clusters of life- reactions within five kilometer radius." Mach Caliber interjected. "High probability of civilian presence."

There wasn't much Subaru could do right here, and she probably couldn't stop the Orks now... but she could get as many people as possible to safety. It would be dangerous, and getting anyone out of the city would be hard... but maybe they could hide here?

"I'm going to go find those people." Subaru said. "You think we can find room for a few more?"

"Wait, you're leaving?" Karol asked, a bit of fear in her voice. "And you want to bring people back?"

"I'm not leaving! I'll be back soon... I hope. " Subaru replied. _"And, I'll still be able to talk to you. Can you hear me?"_

"Yes, but… most of those people won't be able to help, and I only brought enough food for a few months..."

"We shouldn't have to stay that long... I hope. Please... just trust me." Subaru said, stepping hesitantly towards the door. She'd be back as soon as possible – it'd probably be best to stay put until reinforcements arrived, rather than trying to escape. Hopefully Karol and anyone else she found would be safe until then…

"Ah… that's not really what I was planning…" Karol said, waving her hand. Her voice turned sharp – the same kind of tone Tia used when she was doing something silly. "But I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?"

Subaru shook her head seriously. "Me neither."

Karol sighed, but seemed to understand – or at least she didn't say anything as Subaru left, closing the door behind her. There were still people in need of help, and she was going to rescue them. She **had**to rescue them. But first… they needed a safe place to be rescued _to. _She didn't know much about the Ork's capabilities, but there was nothing around here that could keep **her**– or a powerful mage –out of the cellar. Just a few pieces of scrap metal piled next to the apartment complex's big… environment thingy. Maybe, though, she could make it hard to **find **the entrance. It was really the only chance anyways.

_"Can you hear me?" _She asked Karol over tranmission. She hadn't really confirmed before; but even if she had only a tiny bit of magical power, she'd be able to hear a direct transmission. _"I'm going to try to hide the door, okay."_

There was a long pause, which Subaru used to identify the most likely candidate - the environment machine's casing. If she removed it, and placed it over the entrance...

_"Good plan. That might just work." _Karol replied, her voice sounding far away. _"Can you hear me? I haven't done this in forever..."_

_"Yeah!" _Subaru replied, perhaps more excitedly than she intended to. _"It's kind of faint, but it'll work."_

She walked over and detached the casing from the unit - luckily there were just a few latches keeping it in place; and then lifted off the metal shell. It wasn't heavy, but it was a really awkward shape, so it took a bit of effort to move it into place - but not too much.

_"Done!" _Subaru transmitted, dramatically brushing her hands. _"It should... hopefully it'll work."_

_"Thanks for the vote of confidence..." _Karol replied.

Subaru nodded to no one in particular, and quickly responded with _"I'll see you soon."_

Karol said nothing, and Subaru turned aside. Another weapon shrieked in the distance, and crashed...

"Nearest signature identified. Path Display. Standby, Ready." Mach Caliber said, displaying a videopathic image showing the quickest way to the nearest reaction.. Subaru headed off immediately, vaulting the wall around the apartment complex and speeding down the road. It had been fairly empty before, but now it was completely deserted. There were a few bits of discarded stuff here and there – paper and other things, but otherwise no sign of life. A few times, though, she saw bodies lying by the road...

There was nothing she could do but continue on, towards the nearest contact. It wasn't very far, just under two kilometers, and she quickly arrived in front of a ruined bookstore, where she found a man in the back, unconscious after apparently having fallen from a second story shelf. She stabilized the injury, but he wouldn't be walking soon, so she braced his leg, picked him up, and quickly headed back to the shelter. She opened the 'gate' and set the wounded man down on a mat…

"Well… he certainly won't help defend this place." Karol commented.

"That's true…" Subaru replied. "But it won't come to that! I've made sure we're hidden."

"Yeah… sure. What if they find us anyways?"

Then… they'd probably die, but you couldn't just say that, so she settled with "They won't."

"I can only hope so…" Karol said. "Well… I suppose you'd best get going."

"Yeah. Still a lot of people out there..." Subaru said, waving and heading for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

She put the 'disguise' back in place, as Mach Caliber displayed the next path, just noticing one of the buildings across the street seemed to have suddenly lost its third story. _"Was that like that before..." _She wondered.

_"Negative._" Mach Caliber answered. _"Collapsed while you were away?"_

"Maybe." Subaru replied. It wasn't really important right now, and she hurried off towards the next contact - in the complete opposite direction of the first, at that, following the path to find what had to be the only person in Harpin's Curve with both a full holopathic monitor setup **and **no track, so he apparently hadn't notice the battle going on outside. Somehow. After a bit of 'debate', Subaru convinced him to leave his computer and head over to the shelter. That done, she set off towards the next contact.

"You Will Not Escort?" Mach Caliber asked.

"It's not all that far, and he has a map…" Subaru replied. "This way, I can find people more quickly."

"Interception?"

"As long as I don't see any Orks, it should be okay…"

"Affirmative." She replied. "Minimal Anomalous Reactions Nearby."

Subaru hoped they were both right. It was risky sending people out alone in this… place, but if she carried everyone she found back, it would take way too much time. Or… maybe she was just lazy. She was thinking about that as she found the third survivor. A girl about her age had been here to visit the park, and had gotten lost in the confusion. Subaru explained where the shelter was, and gave her a spare datapad to use as map… and sent her off. As the girl excitedly thanked her and ran off, Subaru still wondered if it was a good idea, but if she was afraid if she did it now, it'd just be because she was a cute girl…

She turned to the next group of contacts – this was more than one, about three kilometers distant – and started off. The sounds of battle were a lot less common now. Unfortunately, that had to mean the Orks had already won…

…this was going to get bad.

"Alert! Reaction Approaches!" Mach Caliber announced, a small indicator appearing on Subaru's vision. Whatever it was, it was behind a corner, and too far away and protected to just use infrared…

"Estimate Armour-Type Biped. Similar To… …Previous Record."

One of **those **things, then. If it was as powerful as the last one had been, it would be a hard fight, but she could do it… probably. If she couldn't… then there was no one else to get hurt this time, at least…

"Correction." Mach Caliber said. "Ten Life Reactions. Consistent With Ork Pattern."

Blast it. No way… either one would have been bad, but a walker *and* ten Orks was terrible. Maybe she could have done it once, but she was out of practice… and injured. Subaru ducked around the corner, and crouched down behind a dumpster.

"Master?" Mach Caliber asked.

"It's too many. I can't beat them." Subaru sighed, calling up Mach Caliber's searcher feed. The Orks reached the street she was on… and **turned towards her**.

Not good…

"That Is Not My Assessment." Mach Caliber replied.

Subaru said nothing. The Orks quickly marched down the street – before long, she could hear their walker tromping along, then their steps along with it.

_"If You Do Not Engage, Escape."_ Mach Caliber suggested. _"Path Display."_

A pulsing line of light lead down the alleyway, over a fence, and then down a short turn. Subaru couldn't figure out why it was a bad idea, but was pretty sure she was frozen in place. She wasn't afraid… well, she wasn't **just **afraid. She was mostly sad. Fighting at the reactor hadn't helped anybody. She hadn't been able to save Peel. She hadn't been able to save Lesli. …She hadn't been able to save Ginga. Or herself. Or mother… the list went on. And she could always remember the ones she'd failed to save…

The first Orks began to walk past the alleyway – Subaru could see them on Infrared, or from their shadows. It didn't really make them much less imposing. A loose group of three stood in front of the walker, with the rest coming up behind.

_"Recommend Divine Buster Against Walker, Followed By Close-Range Attack On Orks…" _Mach Caliber suggested. Subaru wasn't listening. Part of her knew she was wrong… or at least wanted to believe she was wrong. She was ashamed of herself – she should be able to do **something. **But she just wanted to cry – she couldn't do that, either, or they'd hear. She wanted to leave – to talk to Gin, or Dad, or Tia. Heck, even Karol would do if she couldn't manage…

The Orks passed by. They hadn't seen her. She breathed out.

_"Flank Assault?"_

Subaru waited for the Orks to move some distance away before she collapsed. What was **wrong** with her? She should have been able to do something, at least. If not win the fight, then at least to run away. She thought she'd been getting **better**! At least the Orks had turned, and weren't heading towards the shelter… and the people she'd left alone. Damnit…

_"Master…" _Mach Caliber said, _"… Are You Malfunctioning?"_ The question had about as much concern and annoyance as it was possible to put into a monotone, all at once…

Subaru snorted. "Yeah. I think I am."

"Sorry."The AI continued. The annoyance was gone now. "Before You Can Be Fixed, Mission Must Be Completed."

Heh. And now look at her, getting a pep talk from an AI – again. And look at her thinking it was odd… maybe she just wasn't the person she thought she was. Maybe she was just a coward…

"I guess…" She said anyways, half-standing.

"You Must Continue. We Are Not Far From The Reactions!"

"Yeah…" Subaru replied. "Yeah."

She felt miserable, but the panic attack had passed. This group, though, she would be escorting back to the shelter… and probably staying there. There were still more people out here, but she couldn't save them all. She didn't move all that quickly now, just steadily rolling through the streets, half in a daze, until she finally reached the destination.

The Orks were already there. A family of three – a young boy, a man, and a woman; had been caught by an equal number of Orks, and one of the little lanky things. The Orks and the small being were rifling through a nearby suitcase, muttering about the lack of good loot. One of the Orks reached out for the woman, only for the man to step in front of the towering creature. The Ork casually raised a fist bigger than the man's head and backhanded him aside, sending him flying two or three meters into the concrete. The woman screamed, running towards him.

"Dez humies ain't even worth killin'…" One of the Orks said. "…not a bit o' fight to 'em…"

Subaru didn't feel much like fighting anymore than she had a minute ago. Some part of her wanted to hide in shame and misery. To run away. But she couldn't. Not here. She wouldn't abandon people in need. She wasn't that lost. Besides… 3 Orks… she knew could do that, at least. She'd destroy them. As long as they didn't take the civvies hostage, or…

"Standby, Ready." Mach Caliber interrupted.

Subaru screamed in rage – rage at what had just happened, at the reactor, at this city, at everything…

…but mostly at herself.

She charged forward, aiming straight for the Ork that hit the man. It turned and its adjacent companion turned, a confused expression on their blocky faces… but not nearly fast enough.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Subaru screamed, her anger surging into her whirling gauntlet as she slung it at the Ork's jaw, striking with a deep crack and sending the alien flying backwards in a spray of green blood, slamming through a street light and into the office building behind. She spun, and slammed the front of her boot into the second Ork's temple, throwing it aside. The third Ork turned, raised its gun, and fired. Subaru rushed forward, one round striking her jacket around the midriff, another at her left shin. She ignored them, and slammed her left fist into his gut. He didn't seem to care, so she kneed him in the same place as she slipped under his arm and put it in a makeshift lock, then drew back her other arm…

"Load Cartridge!" Mach Caliber said.

A cartridge flared as Subaru punched the Ork square in the nose, launching it backwards to crumple roughly on the ground. She glanced back, and saw the Ork she'd kicked before getting up. She leapt into the air, and drove her elbow into his neck as she crashed down. It fell swiftly, Subaru skating on past, before circling around. She glanced at the civilians; where the woman was checking on her husband, still unconscious on the ground, and the boy was staring at her, mouth slightly open. Meanwhile, the short gangly critter was… scampering away, its weapon abandoned. Subaru was still annoyed… and it might be running for help, anyways.

"Keep him still!" She shouted to the woman, chasing after the midget, kicking it in the backside as she rolled past. The thingy yelped as it went soaring, landing in a heap on the street after and bouncing onto the sidewalk. Subaru skidded to a halt, shaking her head. She almost regretted what she'd done… but she still too angry to feel sorry for the aliens. On top of that, her searchers told her it was still stable… somehow. Which was kind of scary in itself – just as frightening, it sounded like the battle was starting up again off in the distance… She wheeled around, and headed back to the family on the ground, and the injured man. His life signs were stable enough… but that didn't tell her terribly much. She kneeled down next to him, the woman soon backing off. "Is he okay? Will he be okay?"

"I don't know…" Subaru said, honestly. "It doesn't look that bad."

She hoped she was right. His exterior injuries looked fairly minor, but he'd gotten hit pretty hard without a barrier on, and there might be internal damage. Subaru knew only a little healing magic, not enough to move him if he had spinal injuries, for instance. She held her hands over his body and cast a simple diagnostic searcher spell, checking for any major injuries she couldn't see.

"Minor Concussion Detected." Mach Caliber concluded. "No Other Anomalies."

"That's… that's good, right?" The woman asked, tears in her eyes. Not that Subaru didn't… "Is that good?…"

"Yeah, that's good." Subaru replied. Really good, actually. As hard as Orks typically hit…

"Oh thank God…" The woman said.

She decided not to question her blessings, retrieved a roll of bandages from storage, shifted him onto his back, and began to wrap the bandages around his head. As she did so, she spotted a curious glowing contraption on his belt, smoking slightly – a barrier node. Most people didn't wear them around all the time, but that explained why he hadn't gotten hurt… it looked like it was out of power, but…

_"Subaru? Damnit, tell me you're still here…" _A voice echoed over transmission. It took Subaru a moment to recognize the voice, and the impression behind it – Captain Emelia Halstadt. She sounded more than a little worried, although that made sense, really.

_"Yes!" _Subaru replied quickly. _"Great to hear from you…"_

_"Oh, thousand gods. Listen, I'm sorry about this, but I need you to come with me. Meet up with me outside the city, at coordinates –"_

_"I'm sorry…" _Subaru transmitted. _"I can't… I have injured citizens here, and I already told Karol I'd stay with her…"_

_"Karol? Who's Karol?"_

_"Well, she's this lady I found in a basement, and –"_

_"Nevermind. The situation just got worse… if you can believe that. Captain Levner… the subcommander for the 283_Hostile Dimensional Ship Crash Site, 11 kilometers northeast of Zolice.

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 540 kilometers west of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1029 Hours

Nanoha and her team carefully wound their way towards the source of the distortion. The inside of the ship was an eclectic mix of narrow corridors, and vast, high-vaulted galleries criss-crossed by catwalks and machinery. It was as if they couldn't decide whether they were going to be too strict or too lenient with their space, and made the whole thing feel vaguely… cavernous. Still, they'd made good progress, considering the huge size and labyrinthine corridors of the invader's ship, and picking their way through the darkness, wreckage, and general clutter on the ground. Still… it was eerie – they'd barely seen any trace of the crew. She thought one of her searchers might have found something - a strange light moving through one of the corridors - but they never identified the source and couldn't be sure. If it weren't for the fact they'd already found bodies – dressed mostly in ragged coveralls, one in a gaudy burgundy uniform, and about three… cyborg things… she would've guessed the ship was automated.

Perhaps they'd all already left, but Nanoha couldn't shake the feeling they weren't alone – that there was someone watching them… or **something**. They hadn't seen anything like cameras or searchers either, but they all seemed to feel the same strange presence, everyone growing increasingly tense as they moved deeper into the ship. The décor didn't help either – the Krieg seemed to have a total of three subjects: skulls, eagles, or hooded men. Sometimes, just for a change, they'd combine some number of the three. Granted, TSAB decorators weren't much more creative, but at least they were rather less morbid… On top of that, as they got closer to the anomaly, Nanoha's cold seemed to be getting worse, and she'd developed a sudden migraine… it wasn't going to stop her, so she hadn't said anything about it, but from the looks of things, she wasn't the only one afflicted.

It had to be the anomaly – they weren't far now, and her searchers indicated the path wasn't very complex – though they couldn't get inside what she still guessed was the engine room– the distortion was too intense to get a transmission back.

Nanoha's team emerged into a large open shaft running through the ship, and paused. She guessed it had once been a ventilation shaft or such – a swift current of air flowed upward, lacking all any pleasant nature that might qualify it as a 'breeze'; and numerous massive industrial fans studded its edges – some shattered, some spinning idly, and a handful still working. Once, this shaft would have been vertical, but with the ship listing on its side, the shaft was tilted too, and only a narrow metal footbridge – no railings – crossed the gap. Pools of colored light flowed down from above, coating the walls of the shaft, and the area between.

If you couldn't fly, it'd be insanely dangerous – that was hardly the only danger, though; a TSAB engineer could probably find an unacceptable safety violation every few meters. Many parts of the ship had high-energy circuitry, plasma or other dangerous conduits just lying along the walls – they'd had to take a detour when the direct route had been frozen solid by a broken coolant pipe – and there were more than a few place where you could get stuck in very large mechanisms – and that was leaving aside all the other problems, like no guardrails anywhere… even with barrier jackets, they'd had to be careful. Even a crashed TSAB ship shouldn't be this hazardous…

In the current situation, though, it wasn't falling that was the actual concern – Nanoha was more concerned about the other catwalks above and below them – with this much interference in the air, she was effectively blind, and **something **was out there… she sent a transmission to her second in command – Enforcer Aurand - telling him to keep watch. She didn't need to, the team had already fanned out, eyes darting from one shadow to the other, looking for anything out of place- a little more nervously than she would have liked, but she could hardly claim innocence in that area herself… Two enforcers flew across the gap, and covered the area from the other side.

They signaled, and another enforcer flew down below the bridge, and checked it. Nanoha took the opportunity to cross herself, and glanced down below, strengthening her suspicions. About a hundred meters below, the shaft branched into six smaller channels, each capped by a fan of truly huge proportions. Up above, she could see the distant glow of sunlight through a gigantic stained-glass window, broken in some places, but still largely intact… which meant it probably wasn't really stained glass, but that was hardly surprising. That they'd put something like that here, where almost no one would see it, and where breaking it would endanger the entire ship – how was it supposed to be seen, anyways, when they weren't on the surface? Unless it was meant to be seen from the outside, which raised entirely different questions. In any case, it seemed to depict all three of the shipbuilder's favorite subjects; a man clad in gold armor, a flaming sword in his right hand – probably hooded, although she couldn't be certain, since his head and upper torso were broken off, along with his left arm. He was standing on a field of skulls, and the same stylized double-headed eagle they'd been seeing – although only one of the heads remained – served as a background. Nanoha took a picture of it and sent it to Dr. Tranter for his 'analysis'… assuming the transmission would get through.

Meanwhile, more enforcers began to cross, walking quickly but carefully across the bridge. Nanoha hastily glanced back, to the area just above their bridge. Bits of metal creaked in the wind, and dust whorled about. No sign of movement beyond that. Assuming whatever she was certain was lurking nearby could be seen at all…

She waited until all the others had left the room, then exited herself, quickly shifting back to the middle of the group. Nanoha ducked under an overhanging pipe, coming to a T-junction, a marked by a large golden skull built into the wall – this one's 'image' seemed to be half made of machine parts, perhaps that signified the engineering section. They did seem to like skulls, and it certainly wasn't the first such marking they'd found... Either way, her searchers had found this place. After passing through here, they should be only a few hundred meters walk to the door, assuming there were no surprises… Aside from the whole 'exploding' business, there hadn't been many yet. Fate had found what they all guessed was a cargo bay, a handful of wrecked military vehicles and equipment scattered about it. They'd stopped there for the time being, and begun cataloging what they could – which made Shario very happy, and could turn out to be useful. Several of the destroyed vehicles were new, reportedly, and all of them had the same straightforward, rough-hewn but almost geometric industrial design. They'd also picked up some smaller weapons, and tried – unsuccessfully – to access one of the ship's computers. By now, though, the team had moved on, further towards the front of the ship.

Kemmel's team had apparently less luck, finding absolutely nothing where they expected the bridge should be. There were an abundance of crude passenger compartments, though, bunks stacked three or four on top of each other, with barely a quarter-meter between them – even field barracks and troopships weren't that densely packed. In any case, they seemed to have arrived in the living section of the ship… which made the absence of any crew all the more bizarre. For a living section, though, it was conspicuously lacking a lot of things, like lounges, arcades, gardens, or any of the things that made life on a ship manageable. It gave Doctor Tranter plenty of material, though – even if he refused to speculate too much without more data. He did say that whoever ran this ship clearly cared little for their crew, which, really, was obvious…

They followed the left corridor as it wound further downwards, and quickly reached an opening, where they filed out into a larger room. Nanoha stepped over a trio of pipes on the floor, heat washing against her as she entered a vast chamber. Her mouth briefly fell open in surprise – the searcher feed from this room hardly did it justice. They were standing on a wide walkway which jutted halfway out through the center of the room, a large command center at the very end, supported by a pair of flying buttresses. Dozens of smaller gangplanks led out below, including some that lead to a vast metal door on the opposite side, marked with the same half-metal skull as they'd just found – the door into the engine room. But to either side…

To either side stood two waterfalls of molten metal, emerging out of a large machine attached to a white-hot tube across the ceiling. After pouring out of the spout, the slag thundered a hundred something meters towards the bottom of the chamber, where it should have collected in a large basin, connected a network of mechanisms - but the ship was tilted, so instead it landed **outside **the basin, pooling over and around the machinery at the bottom. On top of that, several smaller pipes descended from the glowing white tube, down into the bottom assembly – in one of the… magma-falls, the metal had melted away most of the pipe, and where the white-hot gas escaping touched the liquid metal, it _boiled. _According to Raising Heart, the temperature held steady at 107 centigrade, even this far from the floor. Fortunately, their barrier jackets protected them from the heat and noxious gases – but there was no sense standing around and gawking.

Nanoha ordered the team to move on towards the central 'command center', which they did, quickly but cautiously moving out onto the spit. This didn't seem like a likely place for an ambush, logically, but the presence she felt was stronger than ever, and her headache was getting worse, too. The sooner that anomaly was sealed, the better…

The upper level of the control room was ringed with an array of instrumentation, ranging from simple dials and levers to large, flat-paneled screens, displaying various messages in the invader's language. Some of the symbols did look vaguely familiar, reminding her of hastily scribbled kanji, albeit a bit sharper and simpler, like Belkan script, but Nanoha couldn't make anything of it overall. About a dozen corpses were on the platform, some slumped against the machinery or elsewhere, but most were clustered around a central hatch. A thin, dusky black-haired Enforcer cut through it with an A-13 sword, and they descended into second level.

There, they found more displays, and more bodies – maybe upwards of fifty. Their Barrier Jackets were filtering the air, but the whole room still stank of cooked flesh. Even if Nanoha had seen dead people before, it was nauseating scene. She did her best to avoid showing any discomfort – it wouldn't do to get sick in front of everyone. From the number of bodies, she'd guess the crew in the foundry had taken shelter in here when the ship crashed, hoping it would provide refuge from the heat.

Obviously, it hadn't worked.

The same Enforcer as before ran over to the next door, as the rest of the team spread out. Aurand pointed out a large lever-type switch mounted on a counter by one of the walls, with a couple of strange bodies lying nearby. "This might control the… smelter. Should I trip it?"

The switch certainly looked big and important enough – about a meter long, with a safety catch and yellow-painted handle – to be the main power control. But, while she'd seen plenty of questionable design decisions on this ship, no one could be foolish enough not to flip a switch to save their lives… unless there was a very good reason.

"Don't." Nanoha said. "All these people here…"

Aurand quickly reached the same conclusion. "Yeah… might blow up the whole ship." He stepped back from the switch as if it were toxic, and quickly glanced to the other door. "Looks about done."

They'd have to come back here later, if they got chance, but for now, the top priority was the reactor. The Enforcer with the sword had indeed cut down the door, and the way out was open. First they'd call in, though.

_"Lightning One, this is Stars One, we are near the anomaly, and will now attempt to seal it."_

In response, there was only a distant whisper of a feeling, an intention too distorted to understand. That couldn't be good. Nanoha hadn't heard about any attempted transmissions, but she wondered how long they'd been out of range. It had to be the anomaly.

"Dimensional interference is preventing interpretation of transmissions." Raising Heart said by way of agreement. "Possible successful receipt of outgoing message."

That was good news, at least, potentially, Fate knew where she was. Still, the anomaly's presence seemed to press in around them, an almost tangible bitterness in the air… Nanoha couldn't tell if whatever it was doing was getting worse, or it was "What about the interference itself."

"Manifold Intensity Remains Consistent." Raising Heart explained. "There Are Unusual Energies Emmanating From The Anomaly. Superficially Similar To Transmissions…"

"Potential For Psychosomatic Symptoms Is High." A deep, monotone voice interjected. Nanoha looked around for the speaker, before recognizing the faint reverberating tone of a device. Ah, well, she could have guessed she wasn't the only person on the team with an Intelligent Device.

"So, that said, we're sure the interference is behind that door?" Aurand said, gesturing towards the huge black gate on the opposite wall.

"Yes. Within 98% Certainty. It also seems logical in accordance with the ship's design."

"Then we should keep going." Nanoha concluded.

They did so, and exited out onto the gantry above the foundry floor, making their way down the platforms that hung haphazardly over the cooling slag. Nanoha could see the faint shadows of stack upon stack of machinery in the darkness below, where the molten metal hadn't covered the ground. She wondered where it was all coming from; anyways… maybe there was a storage system above, or at least some kind of reservoir. This ship was maelstrom of inexplicable questions… they'd have to remain unanswered for now.

The team made the climb down towards the presumed engine room door, the platforms swinging precariously as they moved over them. Some of the walkways had collapsed – one starting to fall apart as they crossed it. Few of them even had handrails…

Fortunately, though, they reached the other side safely, and found themselves on an extended ledge much like the one where they'd entered – but that hadn't had such a large gate on it. The doorway stood maybe twenty-five meters high, forty across, and Nanoha could only guess how thick. It was constructed out some dark black metal, notched outwards in two places, with the gigantic mechanical-skull icon between the two. She wasn't looking forward to breaking through, but there was a lever on the left side… that might open it. Of course, actually getting through was another matter. She felt certain there was some danger on the other side, but what kind, she could only guess… assuming that wasn't just the anomaly's influence. They might have to respond quickly…

"Everyone! Stay alert! Be prepared to open that door!" Nanoha ordered. Almost as she did so, the enforcers formed into a concave formation around the door, some crouching or lying down to get a better view when it opened, and just to the right of the center. It looked good. She glanced at the enforcer at the giant lever, and nodded.

The man reached out, grasped the middle handle, and pulled it down with a deep clunk, as he began to run into his place in the circle. About half a second later, a deep, resounding 'thrum' echoed from the top of the doorway. A siren, perhaps? Now whatever was behind knew they were coming… wonderful. There was a clank, and two clamps on either side began to retract. Nanoha focused herself, tuning out the seizing pressure of the anomaly as best she could. Then, with a loud whirring and clanking, the door began to ratchet into the ceiling.

It happened fairly quickly. Nanoha heard screams from within, distinctly audible over the noise of the machinery, and the low metallic thrum they'd been hearing throughout the ship grew louder. In moments, the opening door revealed a small cluster of men, crouched behind piles of debris, crates, and mobile barricades, all wearing masks of some sort. At either side was a larger weapon, manned by a team of two and fixed behind a larger barricade.

"FREEZE, ENF-" Someone shouted, only to be swiftly interrupted by a loud electrical crackle as a streak of light bolted towards the team. The higher pitched boom of magical bolts being launched replied, as a firefight sprang up instantly. Nanoha picked out her targets, a projectile skittering off her barrier jacket as the left side weapon swept across their group. That was one target…

"Divine Shooter!" She cried, launching a set of energy bolts with a sweep of her staff. One hit the left operator, sweeping him over. On the opposite side of the room, the right side weapon fired only once, a loud thump echoing through the air an instant before Nanoha's energy bolt blasted the gun itself apart, and the gun's projectile exploded against the barrier of the A-13 enforcer from before, peppering the ground around her with shrapnel. Two of the other bolts also found their target, or close enough, taking two more enemies out of the fight.

In little more than a second, the crewmen had gone from eight to two. The second left-hand crewman reached for his rifle, only for an enforcer to quickly leap forward and down him with a thrust from his spear. Another crouched behind a large metal crate, bolts zipping narrowly past him, firing steadily with his… laser – they used lasers. One struck near Nanoha's feet – she lifted Raising Heart, and discharged a single bolt, hitting the crate in front of him, boring through it, and sending him sprawling backwards.

"Clear!" One Enforcer shouted.

Quickly, the Enforcers advanced through the door, sweeping side corridors for hostiles, zip-tying unconscious soldiers, and taking positions along the edges of what seemed to be a large platform. Now that the firefight was over, Nanoha could look out at the rest of the engine room – easily the biggest chamber yet. Beyond the platform at the entryway stood a virtual forest of equipment – three colossal cylinders, ring-shaped machines along their sides, ran overhead, fading away into the dust and smoke, and presumably, heading out the back of the ship. Dozens of tall structures contained streams of plasma within, looking like an upgraded version of the slag waterfalls. Pipes lead in and out of the engine assemblies and… plasma fountains. Risky-looking catwalks were everywhere. And of course…

In the nearly the center of the chamber, atop a tall pyramid formed out of the floor, a spire of machinery stood; nearly met by another collection of machinery descending from the top. At the top of the spire stood a dome, its metallic exterior glowing red hot, and partly crumbled – inside, Nanoha could just catch a glimpse of a riotous storm of light, and sound, and energy; perfectly visible through the smog… even as she watched, a flare of light and molten metal shot out, falling to the ground in a slow arc. The glowing maelstrom had a strange… deepness to it, like it wasn't so much a burst of energy as a hole into something else – which, of course, it was, in a manner of speaking. Just looking at it made her feel dizzy… she caught herself stumbling away from the offending anomaly, and forced herself not to look, blinking its shadow out of her vision.

She looked at the Enforcer who'd been hit by that weapon – Aurand helped her to her feet, but she was bleeding, mostly from the lower chest and legs, it looked like fragment scratches. As long as nothing went badly wrong, she'd be okay, but it looked like it'd be hard to fight with that injury…

At that point, small lights extended from every nearby wall, flashing red, and a droning buzz began to sound every second or so...

Things had just gotten complicated…

Nanoha quickly turned and walked over to Aurand and the other enforcer. "How are you? Can you walk?"

"I guess so…" The Enforcer replied with a nod, wincing as she settled more onto her feet. "Pain suppressor'd be nice, though."

"No. No way." Aurand replied. "She needs to evacuate. I'll get someone…"

"What? No! There's no time!" The Enforcer snapped back…

If they took her along, it was likely she'd hurt herself further, and she'd probably slow them down. But on the other hand, if they sent her back, then she might get attacked along the way, and they'd be down another Enforcer… fortunately, there was another solution.

"No." Nanoha said. "Our orders were to retreat if we met significant resistance. I think that's about to happen, but we can't leave until **that** is stopped." She gestured towards the anomaly. "We'll need to secure our escape, though. Pick three more officers, and they'll secure this doorway with her."

"Hmm." Aurand replied with a shrug. "That'll leave us with seven to seal the core. Good enough."

_"Shalti, Marran, Kleiner, you're with Shafer on guard duty. The rest of you, prepare to move out." _He shouted, repeating it over transmission. He helped Enforcer Shafer to the platform, and set her down behind a large barricade.

"Hope we'll have better luck than these guys." One of the Enforcers said, scuffing a boot in the direction of a fallen soldier. Admittedly, it wasn't a great position, being fairly open, with four elevators and two staircases that offered alternative avenues of attack, and exposed to the walkways nearby…

As if to accentuate the point, a loud snap sounded as an Enforcer fired his rifle-type device at something in the distance. "Sniper." The man explained.

"See what I mean?" The first enforcer said.

Okay, so it was a rather bad position, overall, but they needed to keep watch on those doors…

Aurand seemed to understand that, focusing on a spell… "I'll set up a spherical barrier…" He did so, a red dome eight meters across coming into form near the edge of the platform. "That'll keep them off."

"It'll do." The sniper said.

"Good... that'll help." Nanoha replied, walking to the edge of the platform, and looking out onto the gallery below. It was a tangled mess of machinery and pylons and twisted metal... it looked like there were a few paths that led through, but it was labyrinthine at best. However, the rest of the chamber was mostly open, and she hadn't heard anything...

"Yeah, looks like a pretty long trip." Aurand said. "We'll have to calculate the best route. Maybe several, they might have it defended..."

"That's true." Nanoha said, shrugging in the general direction of the central pillar. "... or we could fly."

She glanced sideways at Aurand, who grimaced slightly at the realization. "Yeah... I suppose we could. We'd be down to only four people, though. You're certain we can still seal it?"

"Absolutely." She didn't doubt she'd be able to do it. She wasn't sure how she'd do it, but she'd find out.

"Right... they'll definitely see us coming, though. Could be risky."

"Riskier than going through whatever defense points they've set up below?" Nanoha asked, trying to peer through the smog filling the room. "I can't _see _any defenses there."

"No Reactions Detectable On Searchers, Including Passive Infrared." Raising Heart said. "Intervening Obstructions Likely."

"I'd say that's good enough." Aurand declared. "Strohl and Avid, we're following Nanoha. Merrigan, take the rest down the stairs and set up a defense point there."

"Yes sir!" Came three replies, and two enforcers moved up to Nanoha's side - the thick-set midnight-blue haired enforcer who'd commented on not being foolish enough to board the Cradle, and a short dark-skinned and red haired woman maybe five years younger than Nanoha.

Nanoha nodded – and leapt over the railing, hovering in midair. She turned back. "Follow me! We're going to stop that anomaly right now!"

At that, she darted away, towards the central pillar some 250 meters away... walking there might have taken five minutes or so, provided they didn't run into any major obstacles. Perhaps it could be as few as one or two minutes…

Flying, Nanoha reached the pylon in a fraction of a second.

She wove between one of the plasma fountains and a large pipe, veering past the anomaly at what she thought was a safe distance.

A wave of nausea rose up in her, and her migraine grew so intense that, for a moment, she could barely see. She spun, straining just to keep in the air, and tried to shake away the pain and reorient herself. It didn't exactly work – she still felt sick, her head hurt, and the world seemed to shimmer at the edges of her vision, the glowing prismatic gap in the world looming before her. It seemed to draw her gaze into it, although didn't look much different from a portal to dimensional space… but then why did it feel so wrong?

"Detecting Seven Thousand Six Point Three..." Raising Heart began, suddenly switching track... "Twenty-Four Hostiles. Highlighting. Condition White. Standby Ready."

Condition White - potential AI malfunctions. So apparently the Anomaly's presence was rough on devices, too... Nanoha forced her eyes away from the anomaly, looking down at the platform around the central pylon. There was indeed a small group of people on the forward edge, with Enforcer Strohl - her overlay monitor identified him - down amongst them. He'd apparently fallen down to the platform, and was now in the midst of several soldiers and raggedly-dressed crew. They were already locked in close combat; with Strohl striking out with his spear, and a mixture of soldiers and crewmen crowding around him. Meanwhile, groups of soldiers had split off at the far side, firing towards Enforcer Avid's position, and another group had moved towards her, and lasers and bullets were already flying in her direction.

Nanoha dove to the side, swooping to evade the flurry of incoming attacks. "Cease Fire!" She shouted. "Surrender and you will not be harmed!" Avid's voice echoed her with the standard Enforcer announcement, but predictably, they didn't listen to either. Alright.

She focused through the incessant buzzing from the Anomaly to cast a pair of bolts toward the melee on the platform. Both found their targets, and two of Strohl's attackers went down...

But at the same moment, a hulking figure - robed and hooded, maybe over two meters tall - stormed through the crowd and slammed a metallic fist into Strohl's chest - he flew across the platform,and landed in a crumpled heap.

This'd be trouble.

"_Stro-!... you injured? …n't get…" _Aurand transmitted, the message barely comprehensible even up close. The only response was a stream of what Nanoha presumed was cursing, mixed in with the static and distortion. Meanwhile, the brute trundled awkwardly towards the fallen enforcer, along with several of the crewmen. The rest of the soldiers were all busy firing at Nanoha or the other enforcers, and two **other** bulky forms were now visible on the platform, one of them turning a huge gun towards her - on closer observation, Nanoha noticed the gun actually seemed to be built **into **his arm, with a strand of... cartridges... trailing away to a backpack. A robot, maybe? Nevermind, for now, she had to worry about Strohl. She gathered her thoughts and emotions, drawing energy out of the whirling maelstrom around her, bending it to her will...

"Divine Shooter." Raising Heart said.

Nanoha focused on the first robed hulk and the other crewmen surrounding Strohl, and swept her left arm forward, shouting in command... "Shoot!"

Six bolts of energy lanced out from her outstretched hand - four impacted in a circle around the stricken Enforcer, blasting the approaching crewmen back, while the other two streaked towards the brute, one slamming into its shoulder, and another impacting the ground near it. The figure slumped and stumbled for a moment, toppling over with a crash of metal against metal.

Nanoha paused for a moment in confusion, before being interrupted by something snapping against her barrier. She quickly resumed her dodging, as more shooting attacks - probably from Avid - struck the opposite side of the platform, aiming for another one of the giants - they couldn't be normal drones, or they'd simply have been destroyed by magic damage... but what exactly they _were_ she could only guess. Nanoha threw another magic bolt towards the machine-gun wielding robot on her side, without checking to see whether it hit. She quickly counted the number of enemies remaining – sixteen. Strohl still hadn't got up, though, and several more crewmen were closing in, with one soldier taking shots at him. And then, the hulking form of the robot she'd just shot began to rise, climbing to its feet with odd motions that didn't quite seem human...

A moment later, a pale blue spherical barrier appeared around Strohl. That was one step off Nanoha's list, so she quickly moved to the next - casting a shot towards the robot as it lurched forwards - it struck home, and the thing _exploded _in a plume of blood and black smoke. Okay... that was definitely not what she'd expected, but at least it probably wouldn't get up from that...

A few shells from the nearest gun wielding robot struck her shoulder, deflected by her jacket. She jetted away, leveling Raising Heart towards it...

"Divine Shooter!" She shouted

Four bolts homed in on the cloaked figure. Nanoha focused in on the robot, guiding the energy through the storm of energy in the room. She saw and all struck their target, impacting with a sharp blast and a roll of thunder as the... thing and its weapon detonated, leaving nothing but a hole in the platform.

She quickly searched for a new target, spotted a soldier on a mounted weapon, and silenced both with another bolt. The next moment, the loud boom and glare of a bombardment attack smashed into the opposite end of the platform, from Avid.

"Nine Enemies Remaining." Raising Heart announced.

Nanoha dove down below the platform, evading a flurry of lasers from one of the remaining soldiers...

"ACS?" She asked.

"Axel Charge System At Forty-Eight Percent. Potential Hazard From Anomaly Energies. Within Tolerance."

"Excellent..." Nanoha replied. That was actually a bit more than she expected, but it certainly helped. She headed for the gap the exploding... thing... had made, and flew through. A handful of the remaining hostiles turned, aiming weapons or running in various directions.

"Axel Shooter." Nanoha said quietly. Lasers and weak projectiles bounced off her barrier jacket, as she hovered in the air as calmly as she could manage, magic flowing through her body as she drew on the leftover energy stored in the ACS. She thrust Raising Heart forward, releasing the energy with a cry of command...

"SHOOT!"

Eight bolts arced out from the head of her staff. seeking out targets. A moment later, a chorus of impacts and explosions sounded around her, as half a dozen more of the soldiers and crew fell. Aurand knocked down one more, and Nanoha turned to last conscious defender, a ragged looking man armed with nothing more deadly than a large wrench.

"Surrender, and you will not be harmed." Nanoha begain, drifting to the ground and holding her palms out. He probably couldn't actually understand her, but... "We're here to-"

Nanoha didn't get to finish. The man dropped his 'weapon', but he wasn't surrendering. Instead, he quickly turned and sprinted away - towards the edge of the platform. Fortunately, Nanoha realized what he was trying to do before he could do it, and quickly set up a bind around him before he could get far. The man screamed something incomprehensible, but clearly both furious and terrified...

"Avid! Secure him!" Nanoha shouted, running over towards where Aurand and Strohl were within their barrier. Avid shouted back an acknowledgement as Aurand waved in the air as she ran up, and stood beside them.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Hell no..." Strohl groaned. "Pretty fucking useful here, too..."

"He has several broken ribs." Aurand reported with a nod. "Nothing life threatening, at least... although the injuries are a bit... odd. This healing circle should stabilize him."

"Well, we're going to at least be getting the wounded out as soon as we seal that." She gestured to the still-aggravating anomaly. "You did your job."

"Right." Aurand gave his injured subordinate a little salute, and stepped out of barrier dome, next to a broken piece of one of the machine giants. "So how are we going to do that?"

"Same way as ever, I suppose?" Nanoha suggested.

Aurand shrugged. "Good enough."

"Excellion Mode." Raising Heart said. The crook at the tip of the staff shifting into a large head in the form of a much larger - but quite narrow - delta-shaped triangle, a thin gap running down from the point. A moment later, two small pieces near the bottom of the 'spearhead' flipped open, and two great wings of glowing energy erupted from the opening, reaching out to around a meter on either side. Simultaneously, another pair of 'wings' protruded from the bottom of the assembly, about a quarter as long. "Sealing. Standby, Ready."

"Impressive." Aurand commented dryly. Nanoha nodded as Avid joined them, and glanced over to find the prisoner moved away from the edge and restrained by a substantial number of zipties, still yelling about something. The three of them raised their staffs towards the anomaly...

"Synchronizing." The three devices said.

"Synchronization Complete." Raising Heart said. "Anomaly Analysis Commencing..."

There was a second of silence. "...Aborted. Extrapolating From Known Data. Sealing."

A ray of energy emerged from each device, fusing the broken pieces of reality back together as they passed along the edges of the anomaly. Raising Heart directed the process, but Nanoha and the others still provided the power - it wasn't an incredible amount of effort, but it was enough that she could feel the strain, especially still weakened from the JS incident... she scowled at the distortion, tightening her grip on the staff. The spiraling light of the anomaly began to dim as the hole in space-time was mended - but at the same time, new ruptures were opening in other places, growing out of the center of the pylon like glittering tentacles. A second strand of energy reached out from Raising Heart, Nanoha immediately channeled more magic to compensate, ignoring the sore numbness running through her. The offending protrusion paused, rippled through the air, and withered away.

It wasn't enough. That particular portion stabilized, but the anomaly refused to shrink…

"This doesn't seem quite right!" Aurand called.

"Outside Power Source Is Constructing Anomaly." Raising Heart said. "It Can Be Overcome, But It Is Likely That Anomaly Would Be Reformed."

"Then we'll have to stop it..." Nanoha said. She searched around the chamber - a confused tangle of pipes and cables lead into the into the central pylon. Probably, one of them had something to do with the pylon, although she couldn't begin guess which powered it...

No matter - she'd just destroy them all.

"I'm going to cut the power!" She shouted. "Hold it for a second!"

Nanoha took herself out of the sealing, took a deep breath, and gathered what power she could - a lot of power. Excellion mode wasn't especially good with shooting attacks, but it was very powerful for bombardment. And while it might be more difficult... it would certainly tear through all the cables in one shot.

She aimed to the right side of the pylon, gathered her will...

"Divine Buster..." Nanoha said, focusing in as she finalized the spell... "Shoot!"

A surge of power surged through her - not that much, relatively, but enough that to cut through the tangle of pipes and cables like it was wax paper. She shifted the beam downwards, and tore through the entire assembly. She melodramatically spun her staff in her hands as she reversed directions, aiming for the opposite side...

"Shoot!"

Another beam lashed out, and sheared off the tubes on the left side of the pylon, Great plumes of venting plasma or other escaping fluids blossomed on either side, melting through sparking electrical cables. A tinny monotonous voice boomed out through the room, speaking in the invader's unfamiliar language. Giant gauges mounted on the control panel beneath the pylon flatlined...

"That did it!"Aurand shouted. "It's stabilizing!"

"Alright... let's try this again..." Nanoha whispered, resuming the sealing process. Now that the interference wasn't constantly being generated by the pylon's machinery, the streams of energy slowly were slowly whittling away at the anomaly, and in just a few minutes, the bleeding tear in reality withered away and closed up with an abrupt crash of thunder, leaving behind only an eerie stillness and static electricity hanging in the air. Nanoha had to pause to catch her breath - but the others were worse off: Avid resting on her staff and panting, and Aurand actually collapsed on the floor. Strohl, meanwhile, was now lying flat on the platform. And then **another** alarm sounded.

It was a deep, resounding sound, like a foghorn, sounding for maybe three seconds, then pausing for a fourth, before starting up again. But it was instantly recognizable as an alarm - and probably a sign it was time to leave.

She took one last look at the now-empty pylon, the scarred and scorched inside now visible, lined with a complex and unfamiliar network of runes. She made certain to get a good recording for later analysis, before walking over to Strohl, still lying within the protective circle, clearly unconscious...

"Vital Signs Weak But Stable." Raising Heart explained, incidentally switching back to Basic mode.

"That's a relief..." Nanoha said, walking over to the broken body of one of the drone... things. "Any idea what these are?"

"Possibly Biomechanical Drone. Uncertain."

They were certainly strange looking up close - there wasn't that much left of this one, but from what she could see, it was based on a human body, with numerous portions replaced with crude mechanical pieces - a large metal device on its back with various small manipulators protruding from it, a rough mechanical arm that ended in a three-pronged pincer, dimly glowing red cameras in place of its eyes, all red-edged with infection. And its lips were sewn shut.

She shuddered and turned away from the... she'd go with 'biodrone', since nothing else seemed to fit - and didn't make her sick - sending out a transmission in the hopes that sealing the interference would make it feasible. _"This is Stars 1... Stars 4, Lightning 1, D-1, can you hear me?"_

A response came in, somewhat faint, but clear enough. _"Stars 1 this is... Stars 6. Where were you? We were attacked on the lower level, have casualties... one moderately wounded, one... KIA."_

Oh no... she'd been hoping nothing too bad would happen, but...

_"We're at the pylon." _She replied. _"The Anomaly has been sealed, we're on our way back."_

_"Understood. Please hurry."_

Aurand ran up beside her, having recovered from his fatigue, and knelt to check on Enforcer Strohl. "I overheard your transmission. We're getting out of here?"

"We are. Can you move him?"

"Pretty sure." He sighed. "Can't say I'm disappointed. This ship is... fucked up."

"Agreed..." Nanoha said. It was certainly among the more unsettling places she'd been in – she'd be quite happy to be away from it. The trip hadn't been as productive as one might hope, either – but they'd prevented a major dimensional distortion, and hopefully they and the other teams gathered enough information to be useful...

A few moments later, Aurand revived Enforcer Strohl, and helped him to his feet. Avid marched their prisoner over to them, holding him by the wrists. He wasn't shouting anymore, at least, and looked something between traumatized and confused.

"So what do we do with this guy?" Avid asked.

"We're taking him with us. You can carry him, right?"

"I… believe so." She replied. "But how are we going to get him past that… foundry?"

"Ah… I can project a wide area barrier… or maybe Aurand can." Nanoha turned directly to the crewman. "I don't know if you can understand me, but we're going to fly across the gap, and then protect you as we go through the foundry. Please cooperate, for your own safety. We won't harm you."

He retorted with something incomprehensible, but clearly impolite.

"Let's go then." Nanoha said. "Stay close to me…"

A few complaints from Strohl later, they were airborne, and the prisoner's cursing climbed to fever pitch. Nanoha cast a barrier around him as they approached the entrance platform, where they landed, gathered the team, put Strohl – and the dead Enforcer – on stretchers, and headed back towards the landing zone, where hopefully they'd be able to meet up with the others. They made it through the foundry area without too much trouble, Nanoha keeping the prisoner firmly between her and Avid, and were maybe halfway to the air shaft when they received a transmission…

_"…Lightning One…" _Nanoha could barely distinguish Fate's voice over the distortion. _"Can y… me? Kemmel is under … are falling back. Respond, ..."_

_"Lightning One, Stars One, I hear you!" _Nanoha replied. _"We're also returning to the landing zone, we've sealed the disturbance, but we have multiple wounded, prisoners… and casualties."_

She repeated the message, and ordered the group to speed up. Perhaps the crew had just been hiding, and was emerging now that the alarm was sounding?

"_There's still interfere … can understand. Glad … you were successful – I'll meet … the helicopters."_

_"Roger!" _Nanoha transmitted. Hopefully, Agent Kemmel and her team would be able to evade their attackers. If not, they could support them once they dropped off their wounded and prisoner at the helicopters. Speaking of which, the crewman was certainly slowing them down, but knowing that the way back was relatively clear, they were probably making better time than they had on the trip out. They passed through the vent room, and were making their way along the corridors, listening to the occasional transmission. It seemed as though Kemmel had a decent lead on the enemy, but the crew had the advantage of knowing the ship, and occasionally managed to attack from unexpected angles. Thus far they were holding out, though… mostly. But it was quite possible that Stars team would get cut off if they didn't hurry…

_"Hold on a minute…" _A sudden transmission interrupted. Nanoha took a moment to identify the voice – the lead pilot, Bandit One. _"I've got a big reaction on my long range searchers…"_

_"Big… What is 'big'?" _Fate asked.

_"Uh… big. Metallic object... at least fifty meters…"_

_"Ah, I see it… not much of a power signature… but we should be going."_

Nanoha opened a monitor and checked. The area around the ship was a haze of static, but she could clearly make out an object maybe 50 kilometers away, approaching rapidly. There was no way they'd get out before it'd arrive. This… could be a problem. Though if she recalled correctly, they weren't that far from the wall of the ship…

_"Lightning One, this is Stars One. We're right next to the wall… requesting permission to engage."_

There was a second's heavy silence. _"If you think you can stop it, do so." _Fate paused._ " Just… be careful."_

**Excerpt From Pamphlet 'Military Services in the Modern World', Chairborne Publishing Co.**

While each Administrated World in the Time Space Administration Bureau maintains its own military, these forces are (for the most part) restricted to operating on a particular planet, and are insufficient to defend the Bureau as a whole. This task falls to the Bureau Armed Forces.

Although the Bureau is not heavily militarized, the Armed Forces still number around 1.5 billion; active and reserve - more than every other signficant power in the known dimensions combined. Of course, this multitude must be distributed throughout the vastness of TSAB controlled space, and for every two combat (or 'forward') personnel, there are five support ('backyard') personnel.

The Armed Forces are divided into several overall groups - the Dimensional Navy, the Ground, Aerial, and Maritime Forces, the Strategic Weapons Defense Command (SWDC), and the Joint Backyard Support Commission (JBSC). Each of these branches has its own heirarchy and organization, but all work together closely, and indeed, often operate as a joint command. Their overarching command structure is entirely unified, with planetary and sector commands ultimately leading up to the Armed Forces Council, a group of three represenatives from each branch, plus three civilian overseers.

Due to the devastation of the Last Dimesnional War, the large-scale massing and use of military force is largely disdained in the Bureau, and most of the threats facing society are smaller scale in any event. Accordingly, the Armed Forces are trained, equipped and organized for low intensity conflict - counterinsurgency, anti-piracy, and paramilitary operations. They are exceedingly good at this task, often cooperating with police and aid groups to restore order to chaos.

Unlike the militaries of some other states, the TSAB Armed Forces are an entirely volunteer-based organization - Armed Forces members are among the better paid public servants and are trained under an intensive 'permanent learning' model, with mages contiually practicing and developing both personal skills, tactical coordination, and magical potential. This leads to a higher level of individual aptitude and group cohesion.

Beyond a focus on small-scale operations, TSAB tactical/strategic doctrine exemplifies the principles of swift decision and action. Extensive data-tracks allow information to be processed and efficiently disseminated to 'ground level', while, with the use of magical movement-enhancing abilities, a TSAB unit can react to evolving circumstances very rapidly.

The ERA decision is often seen as a limitation on the military - but with the proper doctrine, it is only a limitation on its destructive potential, not its capacity to neutralize threats. Compared to conventional weapons systems, magic is far more versatile, and a mage's power actually increases with experience. Furthermore, the non-lethal nature of magic makes it extremely valuable for peace-keeping operations, increasing safety for TSAB mages, civilians, and even enemy combatants alike, though this does make the capture and confinement of enemy forces extremely important.


	9. Chapter 5:Preparations & Escapes, Part 2

Kaiden III Battlegroup, Tetrarch 13, near _Star of Heaven_

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 540 kilometers west of Clanagan.

9-472-004M42

"Confirmed visual on _Star of Heaven_. Nothing looks amiss."

That much was obvious. The wrecked ship loomed up in the windows beneath them, sitting lopsided in the kilometers-long trench its impact had torn into the ground. A blind man couldn't miss it. And aside from the fact that it was on the ground, no, Harrian supposed that there was nothing obviously amiss.

"Aetheric Fluctuations Decreased 57% Percent From Projected Values... Rad-Census Results Are Reduced… Thermo-Scan Inconclusive…" The nav-servitor droned. "…All Auspex Indications Of The Warp Generator Are Negative…"

"The rates must have shut it down…." Harrian concluded. She couldn't say she was surprised they tried it, lacking the insane surety of the Korps as they did, although she wondered how a gaggle of slaves had managed such a task. Of course, they'd all have to die – not only had they disobeyed orders, but they'd also sabotaged their efforts to put a bit more hurt on the witches, and destroy a potential soft spot at the same time. She scowled, scrupulously showing no more sign of her thoughts, and pretended everything was going according to plan."It's just as well. Take us in."

"Yes milady. We'll need to dock on the other side. Ronal! Steady on the thrusters, I want a solid approach!" The skipper replied, as the pilot quickly adjusted the throttle and vectoring controls. The lander shuddered as it crossed down below the sonic threshold, the wreckage of the ship sweeping underneath them.

"Gun stations, be on watch for suitable docking bays." The co-pilot added.

…

"Aetheric Energy Spikes Detected… High Structure Level…" The servitor recited. It began to say something else, but was interrupted by a booming crack that shook the lander from side to side. Then another…

"We're hit!" The co-pilot shouted.

"I see them!" The Gunnery Officer shouted, a pict image replacing the Aquila on a nearby screen. A few flickering, vaguely circular lights burned through a small gap in the _Star of Heaven_'s hull. One flared as Harrian watched, flashing past the camera and jostling the lander once more. "Stations four through nine…" he continued. "…effacing fire on that gap!"

"Alright then. Hold fast, lads. Bring us about, and let's give them a volley from the battle-cannons."

Tetrarch 13 reared up as it came to an abrupt halt, slowly beginning to turn. More blasts rattled the machine. An alarm started to blare. Someone was shouting something over the vox, although it couldn't quite be heard.

"Skipper. Should we really be stopping right now?"

"Milady, this lander's rated against anything short of super-heavy weapons." The skipper replied. "Even if they break through the armor, they may bang up the decks, but there's not a chance they'll-"

The lander heaved to the right, and Harrian found herself flung to the floor – again. Even more alarms blared, as the cockpit started to spin. The idiot skipper wasn't wearing a harness, either, and soon got thrown out of his chair as well…

"Port-Mid Thruster Is Not Responding. Flight Profile Compromised." The servitor reported, its tone completely unchanged. "Brace For Impact."

"She's losing altitude! We're going down!" The copilot screamed.

So much for invincibility…

Harrian swiftly switched on her Refractor, struggling against the spinning room. The idiot skipper hadn't been wearing a harness, and was thrown from his chair, too…

"Trying to stabilize…" The pilot shouted, and their motion did start to slow, the lander waving from side to side before mostly stabilizing. "Got it!"

"Then why are we still falling?" Harrian snapped, scrambling to her feet and running to the pilot's seat.

"We're down to half an engine on the starboard! Not to be flippant, milady, but I can't manage much more than a slower crash."

A red beam surged past, narrowly missing the cockpit. Harrian resisted flinching, and quickly shrugged neutrally. "We were landing anyways…" She pointed towards a small meadow in the midst of a field of patchy copses of ruined trees and loose boulders. "There. Put us down over there."

"Yes Milady. I can make that."

"Good." She said, backing into the skipper's chair and strapping herself in. She switched on the intercom…

_"Gentlemen, we'll be making an emergency landing rather soon. All squadrons prepare for immediate deployment."_

The lander continued to descend swiftly, weaving drunkenly as it closed in on the clearing, still shuddering under yet more impacts. Harrian was hoping that they could actually making it to the ground without relying on Providence - which it was foolish to presume, after all… but odds were looking slim.

"Altitude Three Hundred Meters And Falling." The servitor counted. A sparse moment later, the entire vessel seized to one side, first rolling to port before settling slightly to starboard…

"Throne of Terra, we just lost half the wing!" The copilot shouted.

"It wasn't working anyways." The pilot replied. "We're still steady!"

"Altitude Two Hundred Meters And Falling."

"Final approach… deploying landing gear!"

"Altitude One Hundred Meters And Falling."

The lander plunged down, ripping its way through the trees as it fell, before finally coming to rest with a resounding crunch. Harrian was jerked forward in her chair, and the stricken skipper went flying to settle at the feet of the pilots. For a moment, the sorcerous barrage seemed to cease.

_"We're down! Move! Now!" _She shouted over the intercom. She searched in vain for the controls to lower the access ramps…

"Servitor! Lower the ramps!" Harrian shouted, hoping that would work. She unfastened her harness and stood, slipping on her comm-bead at the same time.

"Order Received. Lowering All Deployment Ramps." The servitor replied.

The grinding of metal echoed throughout the ship as the doors began to open. Harrian ignored it, and rushed forward to retrieve the skipper, dragging him towards cockpit access hatch. At that moment, the bombardment of psychic blasts resumed – if she didn't get off the lander soon, it'd be torn to pieces. First, though, she had one more thing to do.

She didn't appreciate it when the foolish actions of people like the skipper put the mission – and herself – at risk. Technically, as an auxiliary, she wasn't supposed to shoot him…

So she opened the hatch, and shoved him off the forty-some meter drop. Not precisely necessary, but definitely satisfying

. Plus, it helped discourage people from making dangerous mistakes in her presence.

Harrian made her way out of the room, and hurriedly jostled her way down to the lower levels. She kept to the inside - enemy weapons were still slamming into the outer hull, but she made it down quite quickly, the dense crowd of troopers making a path as she approached. About a third of the vehicles were already out when she'd landed - that meant most of the Russ'es and a few others were already in the field outside, but her tank was still waiting in the lander - she dashed over and climbed aboard - it was a Leman Russ Exterminator, with the best wargear she could find - everything from infra-scopes to spall plating, all covered in jet black paint and gold embossing.

"Welcome aboard, Madame. Everything is ready as specified." Someone's voice shouted from the front of the tank.

"Good, let's go!"

The tank roared down the ramp and onto the grass. The dozen some tanks outside had fanned out, returning fire on a small gap in the _Star of Heaven's_ hull. Meanwhile, lighter vehicles were either just behind them, shooting as well, or formed up into platoons for the advance to ship. Harrian glanced backwards, to the hordes of troopers swarming down out of the lander on foot, along with the usual assortment of towed artillery pieces.

_"Milady Commissar." _Captain Radol -, uh, numbers, said._ "Our troops are presently deploying, but it will be some time before they are ready to advance en-masse. For the moment we are fortifying our position and returning fire."_

Harrian glowered. She'd never been enthusiastic about the Death Korp's favored 'sit around and get shot' strategy - moreover, if they waited, it became increasingly likely the witches would sabotage the equipment they came here to retrieve... or escape, reinforce themselves, or worse. They had to get into the ship, now.

_"I'm taking the grenadier squads and some tanks and moving in. Send in two platoons after us." _Harrian replied, switching channels. She issued the appropriate orders, and had them confirmed. Good.

"Head for the ship. There'll be two squads from 2nd Platoon joining us."

"Madame." The driver replied, accelerating over the ruined thicket. A shaft of light struck a passing Centaur, leaving a crumpled wreck with a half-circle melted through it, with twisted and broken quad-gun behind it. No one, not even the two other vehicles grouped with it, even seemed to notice. Harrian's tank stormed past the destroyed vehicle as more beams rained down around them. Behind them, a shriek of metal and thunderous crash sounded over the din of the engines and cannon fire - the damaged wing had finally broken off and crashed down beside the lander, blocking off a fair bit of its doors. Inconvenient...

A moment later, Harrian's Exterminator caught up with the ring of tanks, and the six vehicles of 2nd Platoon's 4th and 5th Squadron broke off, rushing ahead and forming a wedge, with her just behind the 'point'. The whole assembly then headed out over the ruined plain, moving at maximum combat speed. The beams were not firing anymore, for the moment - though she could only speculate as to why.

They'd crossed maybe a hundred meters of the scorched and cracked earth when more Lights flashed from the wreckage of the ship, this time a bit further towards the bow, at a gash in the hull. Harrian didn't have time to even consider whether shouting a warning was appropriate before more blasts of witch-fire hammered on their tanks. One of the blasts impacted their tank, hurtling it backwards and shaking several bolts out of the hull. with a screech of agonized metal.

"Keep going!" Harrian She shouted. She pointed , pointing at the gap in the ship. "Return fire, there!"

The tank's tracks spun in place for a moment as they revved the engine, before the machine suddenly recovered its spirits, lurching onwards to catch up with the rest of the tanks. They didn't seem to be that badly damaged, fortunately. The twin cannons thundered as her gunner returned fire, shells raining down into the lower hull - the other tanks soon followed suit, firing their battle-cannons at the small gap.

The _Star of Heaven's _hull would provide the enemy with cover from their barrage - the exterior plating was twenty-five meters thick in places, they didn't have anything here that could penetrate that - but hopefully it'd occupy their attention for a bit.

It seemed to work. The tanks stormed on - they hadn't lost any in that barrage, although one had a long, shallow scorch mark visible across the top. That wouldn't last. Their own fire was lessening the enemy's attacks, but the blasts continued to fall down on them sporadically. At about two hundred-fifty meters from the ship, one of the blasts tore through the leftmost tank's treads, bringing it to an abrupt halt. The rest simply shifted formation and continued down into the deep scar carved by the ship's impact, and the Grenadiers signaled they were moving up.

The group accelerated to full speed – they couldn't fire on the gap anyways. The enemy could still fire at them, however, and continued to do so – the artillery they'd brought along was now taking up the task of suppressing them, but still wasn't having total effectiveness - a blast bored through the right-most lead tank and ignited something within, the machine erupting in a plume of fire. They stormed past the wreck, making for the comparative shelter underneath the ship's hull. The surviving tanks formed up around an airlock that had come to rest near the ground, waiting for the Centaurs to arrive.

Harrian couldn't wait that long.

"Hold this position, keep the tank ready." She said, as she opened the top hatch and climbed out - she leapt down from the tank, adjusted her hat, and sprinted for the entrance gantry. More blasts thundered in the distance, but sure enough, they were now concentrated on the distant artillery and the approaching Centaurs.

Inside the ship, the alarm was going off - apparently the crew had at least taken notice of the intruders… Perhaps they hadn't wholly defected – that did seem an unlikely scenario in any case. Harrian resolved to find out, quickly scanning the hall for the obtrusive green and black boxes that represented intercom terminals. She found one, off in an nook not far from the entrance, walked over, and primed the machine.

She shifted through the call-cyphers until she found something – a hurried conversation about witches moving through the primary crew rating hab-sector. Apparently a large contingent of the ship's crew was attempting to halt them, and they seemed to be at least somewhat organized… which could mean several things. She decided to risk contacting them.

"This is commissar Commissar Harrian. I've brought reinforcements – who's in charge now?"

There was a hail of static for a few seconds, the man on the other side probably debating how to respond. Which, admittedly, was in the better half of possible responses.

"That's Lieutenant Raega… uh... numbers. He's still in charge, milady." The other voice responded. "On cypher Nine Alpha."

That was a good sign. Harrian switched to the appropriate channel.

"This is Commissar Harrian – authorization code A78-E99. I have third company from the 94th here. What is your situation?"

"Heretics in fast the ship, milady. They have penetrated the engine room and shut down the warp reactor, there is also a group in the castle quadrant, and we have suspicions of another group near the amidships docking bay – it is suspected that more may be within the ship, but most sectors are inadequately surveyed."

Ah, of course. The witches would naturally be familiar enough to halt the warp breach – Harrian cursed herself for not having realized that earlier – still inconvenient for general destructive purposes, but at least the ship hadn't mutinied.

"There's a group along the cargo areas too, if you didn't notice. If you can take them out, the rest of our forces could deploy more easily."

"Understood, milady. I shall dispatch a detachment at once."

"Excellent." Harrian concluded. Unfortunately, that now left nothing to do here except wait for the infantry to arrive, unless there were any updates over the intercom…

Fortunately there was one.

"Milady commissar. We've confirmed the presence of hostiles inside the docking bay – it is likely that this was their means of ingress. While the ratings have not been able to penetrate their defenses, we have them surrounded. That will isolate the other units, allowing them to be eliminated at leisure."

"Very good… And the cargo bays?"

"Detachment sent reported contact, but there were no further communications. It is most likely they were swiftly eliminated."

"The grenadiers have arrived." Another voice interrupted, this one over Harrian's comm-bead. "Moving into the ship. Additional infantry are moving up."

The third company had three grenadier squads – all well equipped and trained, but also only thirty men if it was at full strength – which they weren't. The rest of its troops, however, numbered around five-hundred. It would take them a few minutes to get across the scar, however, given they were on foot…

Harrian didn't want to try taking direct command of the whole force, so she'd do what she could with the grenadiers. The enemy in the docking bay was already cordoned off, so that was a waste of effort; and the group at the wall were obviously powerful psykers, whom she'd rather have the rest of the company engage; that left the castle group.

"Excellent, I've made contact with the garrison –" Harrian said to her comm-bead. "-the enemy were the ones who shut off the reactor. There's a significant group in the rating hab-sector, we're going to intercept them."

She went back to the intercom. "We're going to attack the group in the castle area, and we'll need directions - our vox signal is 107.2, cypher 9-88B"

"Understood. I will designate an adjutant to coordinate."

He did just that, appointing one of the ship's officers to guide them through the labyrinthine corridors of the vessel. After the Grenadiers met up with her, they headed a bit further into the ship, boarded a lift, then followed a 'hidden' corridor closer to the target, before moving through one of the mess-chamber sections - then heading back down, as apparently the enemy had moved quite a bit further...

Still, with all the shortcuts, they'd made good time, and Harrian could now hear the sound of battle up ahead, shouts, bullets, lasguns, and the eerie whine-crack of the enemy... did their staffs qualify as weapons? They followed the trail of senseless ratings onward, looking for an officer to consult with. There was no one - at least not any _conscious _officers. They did find one of the enemy, dressed in strangely decorated grey robes, laying in a bloody pool in the midst of ring of ratings. A few spatters of blood lead away - it wasn't much of a trail, but it was something. The sounds were incredibly close now - they followed the blood trail onwards, past another small cluster of fallen ratings, and through an archway into a short hallway, where two people stood, at the opposite entrance. They were both dressed in strange clothes, one carrying a silver spear with a crystal embedded in the head, the other a jeweled staff - heretics, to be sure.

The two intruders reacted quickly - the male ducking behind a pillar, and the female rushing forwards, brandishing her weapon to strike. The grenadiers in front of Harrian fell down on one knee, firing streams of fire light into the female's chest - she seemed to pause mid-leap, falling to the ground and conjuring a dome of lights before her, against which the Hellguns sparked harmlessly. Throne blasted psykers...

"Defiliers!" Harrian shouted - it sounded appropriate - and sprinted for the woman. She fired a burst in the general direction of the male - the other was presumably safe behind her light show. A bolt of witchfire screeched as it streaked past her, more hellguns firing in the background, and the rest of the grenadiers filing into the room - at least two charging with her.

The female psyker dropped her field as they approached, slashing the air with her spear – but she hadn't missed. A shockwave ripped out, deflected away from Harrian by her own refractor. She moved in, pressing theShe activation rune on her chainsword, as she slashed at her target's waistline, only for the blow to merely nick her armor. Roughly as expected...

One of the grenadiers rushed in, jabbing with his bayonet - the psyker bashed him with the butt of her staff, throwing him backwards. That gave Harrian the chance she needed to press her attack, slashing back across the heretic's body, drawing a spurt of blood spurted from the arm - although her underlying field prevented her from losing it. She squealed in pain and quickly jumped back, thrusting her spear towards Harrian.

Even with unnatural powers, however, the female psyker's injuries were starting to tell - Harrian batted away the clumsy attack with a shower of sparks, fired her hellpistol into the witch's face, and gouged a great rent in the girl's leg on the backswing. She fell to the ground, screaming something incoherent - Harrian pressed the barrel of her pistol to the back of her neck, and fired. The radiant light broke through the tattered remnants of the alien field and seared through the psyker's flesh, the heat seeping through Harrian's gloves as the witch's head violently separated from her shoulders. Harrian spun towards the male - he was well in hand too, fallen to the ground with several grenadiers finishing him off with bayonet thrusts.

There were still enemies to kill, however - not a moment later, another sorcerous bolt darted through the doorway and struck one of the grenadiers at the hip - he stumbled, but remained standing, dashing for the doorframe...

"Next room." The Senior Watchmaster 'leading' Harrian's escort commanded. "Frags. Enter and clear."

Like clockwork, another Korpsman snapped to the door, he and the previous both drawing grenades from their satchels, priming them, and tossing them into the room in one swift motion. A muffled crack sounded from the chamber, followed by yelps of shock. The men at the door immediately rushed in, followed by two others, hellguns firing. Harrian followed after them.

The next room was more crowded - a crew dormitory of sorts, already half wrecked from prior battle, with just under half a dozen of the intruders present, one already wounded...

A streak of witchfire sent one of the lead grenadiers sprawling - another man quickly took his place as they advanced. Harrian darted to the side, another bolt passing through the space she'd just occupied. She ducked behind a support pillar, leaning around to fire a few short bursts at the heretics...

More grenadiers filed into the room, and with an echoing cry of "DEATH!", the forwardmost broke into a charge. Blasts of energy lanced out to greet meet them, as did one of the psykers, an apparently unarmed juvie-looking type - though neither was ever a reliable sign with psykers. Harrian dashed to another nearby, lining up a shot on him and striking a solid burst mid chest. He called up the same field they all seemed to rely on, albeit a bit too late. He was quickly surrounded by Grenadiers, and Harrian switched to other targets, continuing to fire toward the others - one of the intruders, a thin straw-haired woman - was already wounded, leaning against the wall - albeit still trying to fight. It would actually count as valiant, if they weren't heretic scum.

Harrian shot her - almost immediately, another enemy switched targets to her.

"I'll kill her first!" Harrian shouted, not giving a damn whether their sorceries actually let them understand. She blindly fired a burst in his general direction. "And then I'll kill you too!"

Harrian retrieved one of her own grenades from her satchel, primed it to the first rune, and threw it. As it exploded, she emerged from the pillar, first a short beam at the big psyker, then aimed at the wounded one, firing a solid burst into her chest for maybe half a second, before quickly ducking behind a fallen bunk.

Someone shouted something – it didn't sound Gothic, so it was either an intruder or one of the ratings. A split second later, a sharp rolling **snap **of a heavy energy weapon split the air – whether the two events were related, Harrian didn't know, but it sounded like a good time to check her surroundings. A new hole had been burned in one bulkhead, but no one seemed to pay it any mind. The intruders were hurriedly fleeing the room, including the juvie, who was now further back, trying to limp away, with several Grenadiers in pursuit. One Grenadier charged head on, jabbing with his bayonet, only for the boy to knock the blow away and send him staggering back with a sharp punch to the cheek.

The other, meanwhile, circled around, and shot a hellgun burst straight through the psyker's skull – that sent him to the ground like a limp rag. One of the forked staves carried by seemingly half of the enemy disappeared from the doorway as it sealed with a low rumble and clink.

The Grenadiers moved out to cover the door - Harrian followed after, as one of them began turning the hatch.

"It's jammed. We'll have to find another route."

"No time. Blow it open." Harrian said.

"... Yes Milady." The head grenadier replied - they stepped away from the door, while another Grenadier leveled a meltagun at the door - that must be the heavy weapon from before.

The weapon vaporized the door in a brilliant flash of light. Almost before the blast had fallen silent, the first Grenadiers were through the glowing hole where the door had been, weapons fire sounding from within. Harrian followed after a few more Grenadiers passed through.

The one of the intruders lay on the ground, his flesh and armor burnt away and still smouldering. One of the Grenadiers was already down as well - a second was struck by a psychic bolt a moment later, - he flew backwards, a piece of his mask shattering. Harrian ducked behind a column - there were more of the intruders further on, with a throng of ratings on the opposite side, tentatively but steadily backing away from the tightening knot of psykers.

Harrian swept a las-beam across the group of intruders – and, coincidentally, across the crew beyond them. The intruders didn't seem all that hurt, while about half a dozen ratings fell – but they stopped running. Bolstered by the sudden realization they should at least be of some use, the ratings surged forwards, witchfire and other such things lashing out at them, with still more bolts heading toward Harrian and the grenadiers - which were still advancing, moving from cover to cover or just steadily walking forward. There were four of the enemy left here, and they wouldn't last long.

Harrian dashed out from behind her pillar, shooting her hellpistol at a psyker with a staff. "Purge the heretics!" she shouted, charging forward. She slashed at that psyker's leg as she moved past. "Cast them out!"

She was now in the midst of the mêlee, with Grenadiers coming up after her, and the ratings distracting them on the other side. Harrian faced the one she'd identified as their leader based on demeanor - a brown-skinned female armed with a spear, whose long hair rivaled Beta-Two in ridiculousness. Harrian swung her sword at the psyker, only for the strike to be savagely deflected away with her spear - the witch followed up by jabbing in towards Harrian, who shifted aside, the blade darting past her. Harrian regained her footing and slashed at the enemy's shoulder, striking only a faintly glowing field.

The woman drew her arm back, and a blast of energy struck Harrian's chest with force of a bolter shell, and threw her back against a nearby row of bunks, a heavy, unnatural feeling of weariness rushing through her body. A round crater had been scoured out of her armor, but it was intact - and she forced herself to remain conscious as a grenadier rushed forward into her place, only for the psyker to quickly swipe her staff across his chest - he too crashed into a pillar and abruptly fell. Harrian pulled herself up as the woman struck down a pair of ratings behind her, firing another burst at the leader as she ran forward. Another beam darted in from the side, striking the staff-weilder off to the side - he spun around and collapsed behind a pillar. Meanwhile, Harrian rushed forwards, driving her chainsword across the woman's back - she turned to face her as she approached, but not quickly enough. The blade raked over the psyker's body, her field emitting a wave of sparks. Harrian ducked under the foe's counterattack, slashing at her leg - finally, her sword drew blood instead of just light. A wounded heretic screamed as he was dragged down by the tide of ratings.

_"Commissar. You may want to step back."_ Someone said over vox. Harrian quickly did so - the woman looked up a moment later, and dove to the side as a melta beam flashed through the space they'd both just occupied - another of the enemy projected a psychic field, only to get vaporized anyways, along with a bevy of ratings.

The enemy leader, however, recovered from her roll, and rushed towards the soldier with the melta gun at an impossible speed, the spear flashing through him and the weapon alike - cleaving the gun in half, while by some witchcraft not actually wounding the soldier. That wasn't a wise thing to wonder about now though - or likely ever. Harrian charged the woman, not quite managing to duck under an arc of psychic force - her refractor didn't quite deflect it, the energies chipping away at her armor and tearing at her coat. She fought through it, closing in on her target as the woman stepped back, preparing for another attack. Harrian skirted to the side, slashing at the enemy's chest - but the leader quickly shifted stance, blocking the attack with her spear haft. Harrian's chainsword skittered off - at the same moment, something struck her opponent in the side - she grunted and stumbled forward. Again, Harrian ducked low and slashed at the woman's ankles - who shouted in pain as the sword gouged into her leg and fell to one knee. The woman swung down her spear with her remaining strength - Harrian blocked it rather easily, knocking the weapon away...

and rammed the chainsword through the psyker's chest. Her scream was cut short, as a fountain of blood and flesh was torn out of her body, splattering all over Harrian's arms and coat. The sound of battle in the distance had all but faded - Harrian made a futile effort of wiping the gore away, and opened a channel to Lieutenant Raega.

"All the heretics here are dead. Finish any stragglers in the castle. I'm heading to the docks."

."Understood." Lieutenant Raega said. "There are no confirmed reports of enemies in the crew area. The intruders at the bay have repelled another attack... but they remain isolated."

"Good." Harrian said, turning to the Watchmaster of Squad 3. "Secure this area. Remaining squads, with me."

With the easy targets eliminated, the next logical objective was to cut off the intruder's possibility of escape - and that meant the 'docking bay'. Harrian turned and walked out of the room, trailed by the remaining grenadiers. They took a funicular down out of the castle region, then made their way through the central corridor before taking a side passage for the remaining distance. Captain Radol informed her that several infantry platoons had arrived aboard the ship, and were being directed to the bay. Meanwhile, the psykers that had engaged their tanks had finally been silenced by the company's artillery, though whether that meant they'd been killed or driven further in was up for question...

They soon arrived in the vicinity of the bay - in all likelihood actually a cargo hold - to find a large number of ratings and soldiers already gathered in the corridors outside. Harrian and her men moved further on, into the outer hull, the crowds of ratings and soldiers not quite making way as they pushed through the corridors outside the hold, squads of Korpsmen guarding each of the entrances.

A few seconds later, a small group of men ran out from the chamber, witchfire chasing after them. The real soldiers immediately opened fire, cutting down the whole group. One of them survived, crawling away from the pile. Harrian reached out and seized him by the collar of his tunic, and dragged him - or rather her - back behind the wall, stomped her boot into the woman's face, and dragged her up against the wall.

"Ma… Milady. Sorry Milady."

Harrian pressed her pistol into her cheek. "What's in there?!" She demanded.

"There's… there were witches. There musta been a dozen. The fire… it was everywhere. I… I don' know how ta fight."

That much was clear - ship-serfs were more likely to mutiny than to help in a boarding action, so many captains denied them any weapons or training. However, that was no excuse for failing in the command of their betters. Harrian slammed her fist into her face, breaking her nose, at least. "Witches. Is that all?"

"There were… a… a kind of shuttle."

"Describe them." Harrian said, punching her again.

"They were strange, milady…"

Harrian kicked the las-burn on her leg. "**Describe** them."

"Ahh! They… had… long metal rods on top… like a fan, but thin…"

"They had vehicles then." Harrian said, nodding. She punched her in the chest, twice, then slammed her against the wall, and punched her again. "Anything **useful?**"

"There was… one of them… a terrible witch, dressed in black… she was so fast… too fast to see - she … we couldn' stop her…

That… sounded vaguely familiar. "This individual. Did you happen to see any of her features? Her hair, maybe?"

The rating just stammered incoherently.

"Talk!" Harrian shouted

"I… she had this strange yellow hair." She said "… Long… too long."

That did sound like target Beta-Two. If the reports were even half correct, she would be a formidable opponent.

Either way, she had no more need of this serf. She revved her chainsword, the rating shrieked and cowered against the wall. Harrian rolled her eyes and gutted her.

Even with their 'terrible witch', she doubted the enemy could break out, but it looked like it would take some doing to break in. Eliminating Beta-Two would be useful, assuming she was really here, they could do that at leisure…

That just raised more questions - if they had their vehicles in there, why hadn't they left already? It may just be because of the forces outside... or they could be waiting for something.

Like whoever had disabled the warp reactor - a third group. And there **had **been reports of combat in that area. That sounded like a good candidate for her next objective – Harrian gathered the squads that had come in with her plus a cluster of ratings, and set off sternwards. Although there were hundreds of possible paths the enemy could take, the crew would know the ship, and could hopefully guess the most likely avenue. The grenadiers went with her to a overseer's station, while the crewmen would scour the ship, retreating to an intercom to report any contacts.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't take very long for the target to fall into their trap. The ratings located a group of witches moving toward the bow - after ordering them to distract them as long as possible, Harrian switched off the channel and signaled her Grenadiers to follow. They moved down, splitting into demi-squads to isolate the enemy.

Harrian stacked up with one of the demi-squads at the entrance to a chamber whose purpose she didn't entirely fathom. The sound of witch-weapons clashed with that of stubbers and shotguns, and the inert forms of half a dozen ratings scattered about confirmed the heretics were within.

Two of the Grenadiers planted breaching charges on the door in front of them. Harrian gave the order to go in, and the thick gate was blasted off its housing, collapsing inwards. The inside of the room seemed little different from any of the other rooms, except for the piping running across the other side. Several more of the enemy were waiting inside, apparently having reacted to the explosion almost instantaneously.

Harrian led the charge into the room, hellpistol at the ready. "In the Emperor's Name!" She shouted, firing at the first target she saw. "Finish Them!" The Grenadiers followed in behind her - and at either end of the chamber, spreading out to surround the foe entirely. Two Grenadiers fell in the initial exchange - but so did one of the witches. A moment later, one of the enemy swung her staff through thin air, sending of fan of glowing spheres outward. One struck Harrian in the chest, eliciting a sharp screech from her refractor and sending her staggering. Another three blasts struck nearby grenadiers, hurling them backwards.

Harrian quickly fired a shot in her attacker's direction as she dove to a nearby pillar. She quickly checked over her wargear - the recent battles had reduced the front portion of her overcoat to tatters, even the armor underneath was splintered in places. Her refractor gorget, meanwhile, was smouldering worrisomely...

"Machina Deva, Sis Ne Disrumpere

..." Harrian whispered the mock-prayer as another two Grenadiers fell to the hail of pink bolts. That one would have to die quickly...

Harrian glanced back around the pillar - the enemy were pushing towards the bow-end of the room, but the Grenadiers were putting down enough fire to slow them, at least, and were methodically shifting the bulk of their force to cut off their avenue of escape. A melta beam thundered through the air, flooding the room with hellish heat and pressure as it vaporized

one of the ornate pillars, tossing nearby psykers and troopers alike in every direction. It seemed to have done little actual harm to the enemy, however, and a moment later, a sphere of energy wove around the heavy metal desk the gunner was using for cover, dropping him on the spot. They had 'lost' maybe a third of their number, but another two of the enemy were dead - good odds, but unfortunately Harrian's target was not among them.

That female psyker was... distinctive. She wore a vest over a long skirt, both colored a tannish-grey, carried an ornate delta-headed staff in her left hand - it seemed these witches allow the sinister

to persist with their unorthodoxy - and she had a bizarrely guady twin-tailed hairstyle that strongly reminded Harrian of Beta Two. And it looked even more absurd in person than the picts. Harrian fired a hellgun burst at her, striking in the middle of her back... but she scarcely seemed to _notice_. A psychic bolt from one of her confederates, though, smashed into the pillar Harrian was covering behind, forcing her to duck back. Whether it was intentional or not, it made Harrian's priorities even clearer. The enemy (inevitably) seemed to regard uniforms as a suggestion, but she suspected this woman was a leader of sorts, not to mention a fairly potent psyker.

"Target the one with the stupid... ponytails." Harrian ordered, inching around her cover to take another shot. The target was doing her level best to avoid a hail of fire from just about all directions, as though she was at the center of a demented string figure - although it didn't really seem to do terribly much more than scorch her clothes when she was hit. It took no small effort to track her motion as Harrian lined up her sights... however, she noticed another target, a man in the tattered rags of a rating, cowering behind her and held by another of the enemy. Whether he was a traitor or a victim was irrelevant, orders on the matter were clear - they could not have him. She switched targets, firing a las-burst through his neck, and quickly sweeping it across to follow the female leader. Then, the witch she'd shot the rating out from under ran to her side, holding his hand out to block Harrian's shot with a halo of sorcerous energy. The rest of the group closed in as well, two forming a perimeter, while another pair focused their powers into a dome of the same force that repelled their attacks... as for the woman... she was holding her staff, pointed straight at the far wall...

Harrian hadn't a trace of the touch of the Warp, of course... but still she shivered as the malefic energy coursed through the room. A pattern of light danced around the female witch's body... this could not possibly be a good sign. Harrian leapt out from her column, drawing and activating her chainsword. "Stop the ritual! Charge!" She dodged aside as one of the enemy launched a plume of energy at her, focusing her hellgun's

fire into the protective dome. A bell rang as the pistol's power cell depleted. Harrian let it hang by the cord as she sprinted on - under the combined fire of the Grenadiers, that dome couldn't last for long...

But they were too late. The woman shouted a couple of strange words, and a moment later, a torrent of physical force surged out from the woman, throwing Harrian back as an inexplicably pink beam of warp energy as wide as she was tall flashed across her vision... as the flash faded from her vision, she realized there was now a gaping hole in the right-most bulkhead...

That is, the one they *didn't* have any of their forces covering.

The green-red dome melted away as the witches sprinted for the opening, beams tracing after them, but failing to find their mark. All the witches except one.

The strange-haired woman remained, a faint pattern of energy running over her body as her scored and burnt clothes repaired themselves. Simultaneously, a glowing blade appeared at the end of her staff.

So she was sacrificing herself so that the others could escape. How quaint. Harrian drove her sword down across the woman's chest - but she almost effortlessly deflected the swing, raising her right hand to Harrian's face. She quickly leapt aside, the warpfire sphere meant for her redirected towards a nearby Grenadier, who promptly tumbled back. They were too close in for much shooting, but the occasional laser beam deflected off her dress like it was power armor. From what she'd seen thus far, however... Harrian knew that wouldn't last forever, and they had better than 10 to 1 odds...

The woman was shouting something in her strange tongue, though it was more lyrical than threatening, like the language a sparrow would speak. She wasn't as weak as her voice suggested, though, her light-glaive slicing through a Grenadier's chest as he rushed in, and casting him away like a ragdoll. Another Grenadier bashed her head with the butt of his gun, to scarcely any visible effect - she quickly turned and stabbed him, sending him flying backwards. Of course, the rest of the group was already closing in...

"Keep attacking!" Harrian shouted, swinging her sword low at the woman's legs. She leapt over the attack, but that allowed Harrian the opportunity to follow up with a rising thrust - and she couldn't guard against that. The blade hit only her ephemeral armor, of course, but it still tore its way up across her body and scored a gash across the chest of her dress. "Kill her!"

The Grenadiers drove in, moving to surround her. Meanwhile, the woman quickly counterattacked, slashing downward - Harrian knew better than to try blocking that glowing blade, so she stepped inwards, focusing her parry on the head of the staff itself. Somehow, this tiny girl hit like a more-than-normally enraged Ork, and it took no small effort to block the attack as the whirring blade as it screeched against the golden metal in a shower of sparks. Harrian quickly countered herself, slamming her knee into the girl's chest. She didn't have time to determine if it elicited a reaction before the witch swept her off her legs, sending her to the ground a half-meter from the girl's feet. The witch didn't press the attack, however, instead spinning her weapon to impale a Grenadier attempting to encircle her.

Unfortunately for her, that left her open - one of the Watchmasters closed in from the front, smashing an arcing powerfist into her face - now it was her turn to go flying away, hurtling backwards to smash into the cluster of pipes behind her. Harrian rose to her feet, almost at the same moment the woman... leapt right back up, blood trickling from her mouth. Harrian shook her head, holding her chainsword in both hands, and rushed forwards, as las-beams slammed into her, turning her grey dress black where they touched. But from the look on her face...

She could finally _feel _it.

"DAMN IT YOU ALL!" Harrian screamed, raising her sword in a mighty swing. There was a sudden, sharp boom, and it found only empty air - one instant the woman was there, and the next she was standing some distance away in the hole she'd created. Immediately, the psyker turned tail and fled, quite a bit faster than a human had any right to. Fortunately, she didn't know where she was going, and there were still ratings about, which might at least bog her - and the rest of her group - down. Plus, that group seemed much slower than her... they had to stop her before rendezvoused with the other intruders.

"She's weakening!" Harrian shouted, following through the hole into a cargo access corridor. "Don't let her escape! After her!"

All the Grenadiers followed, though someone muttered something about 'enduring a powerfist as though it were a padded glove' - not complaining, of course, so much as incredulous. Harrian quickly set to work replacing her hellpistol's power pack as she ran, heading through a long corridor that looked like an annex to some sort of aqua-farm. She rushed towards a door leading into a large open bay - a storage room for the ship's food supply. Witchfire slammed into a nearby wall - that girl was inside, standing one of the two gangplanks across the room as she fired back at them.

"You three!" Harrian ordered, pointing at three of the nearby grenadiers. "With me!"

She quickly turned aside, clambering up a spiral staircase, as a quick succession of two blasts threw a pair of grenadiers from the main entrance to the room.

The quickly climbed the stairs, the sound of psyker weapons and lasfire booming up from below. More weapons fired in the near distance - the lead elements of the enemy squad had apparently run into more ratings.

Harrian opened the upper door, and stormed out onto the upper walkway. The psyker in grey was preoccupied fighting the grenadiers below - efficiently shooting down any that paused to fire at her, but that gave the rest time . Meanwhile, Harrian ran along above her, moving to flank. The other walkway was maybe three meters distant... just close enough to be plausible...

Meanwhile, maybe a dozen Grenadiers lay unconscious on the gangplank - but they did not fear death, and feared this enemy's weapons even less - in typical fashion, they continued on, swiftly closing the distance with the girl. One charged in the last few meters - the girl in grey batted away his bayonet with the golden crook that had appeared on the end of her staff, then slammed the butt into the nape of his neck. A second Grenadier swung in with a rifle butt - the psyker jabbed him in the foot, then swept his leg and slammed his head into the railing. A moment later, she spun the staff, sweeping it in a wide arc before her. A fan of glowing spheres of witchfire arced out, tossing men aside, and smashing through the gangplanks. The walkway collapsed behind Harrian, carrying one of the Grenadiers following her with it. Another zipped past her waist, skittering off her refractor, which again screeched with the strain…

The lower walkway had collapsed as well, but the remaining Grenadiers were now taking aim, or else preparing to make a running leap across the gap… and that gave her an opening to do something foolish. She vaulted over the railing, praying she'd make it…

And she did, slamming down on the gangplank behind the girl. She could contemplate this blessing later - for now, there was a powerful witch to kill. Harrian swung her chainsword before she could turn, tearing at the back of her dress. The field around her made the blow frustratingly ineffectual, but it still drew blood. She gave a yelp of pain and jerked forwards, a laser beam simultaneously cutting across her chest. Harrian pursued, following with a second strike, but the witch quickly recovered, turning around and parrying the strike. She jumped impossibly far back, almost to where she'd demolished the bridge. She glared back, and raised her left hand in a commanding gesture. Harrian wasn't going to be intimidated by an childish staring contest, though - she charged forward, ready to slash her defenses apart, followed by her…

The witch shouted something incomprehensible, dramatically sweeping her hand to the energy emanated from her fingertips, coalescing into wide rings - Harrian realized what she was doing too late to respond, and the rings shrunk down in a fraction of a second, pinning her arms to her body, holding her firmly in place. She tried to slip out, but the bands of witch-fire refused to move even slightly… frak.

The girl in grey continued to glare daggers at her. She leveled her staff at her, speaking softly - some kind of invocation - the electric taint of psychic power built up around around them…"Frak…" Harrian swore.

But it was the witch's turn to be blindsided. One of the grenadiers leapt over the gap, running up from behind and crashing into her. She somehow managed to keep her feet, but the soldier also held fast to her, despite her inhuman strength… Harrian wondered what the soldier was thinking - it couldn't last for long. Then, she saw the krak grenade - primed.

It went off with a muffled snap, throwing the girl to the ground, smouldering, and sending bits of the valiant grenadier flying into the stacks below. The rings of energy around Harrian flickered and sputtered out. She quickly recovered her balance, and looked at the witch on the ground, red slowly seeping into her dust-grey dress. She moved her arm slightly, trying to get up - not quite dead, then. Harrian revved her chainsword. She'd have to rectify that…

Then, the girl exploded - a wave of force radiated out from her, crumpling the walkway like wet tissue paper, and throwing Harrian off the bridge. As she tumbled through the air, she saw a bright pink streak fly to the far doorway - bitch hadn't even managed to properly self-destruct. She grabbed for her hellpistol, only to remember that she was currently falling.

Harrian landed with a heavy thud on one of the ice-cold containers below, sore and furious, but largely unhurt. Her refractor was now thoroughly smoking on her chest, having finally fallen in the line of duty. She gingerly tossed it aside - niceties were oft sadly overlooked when one was a fire hazard. Of the damned witch, there was no sign - but it was clear that whatever sorcery she had employed, she hadn't actually destroyed herself. A handful of surprised Grenadiers remained, but between their casualties - both farcical and actual -, her at the bottom of the cold storage room and both bridges destroyed, there wasn't much chance she'd catch up. Harrian wanted that cursed woman's head, but she'd settle for just having her dead.

"Lieutenant Raeda! This is Harrian! Have made contact with the engine room infiltrators… they have a powerful psyker with them - gamma, possibly beta class. They're heading to the launch bay - we need immediate reinforcements."

JF-673 over Fort Rothschild

Central Mid-Childa, Outskirts of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1033 Hours

The trip from Kuran's Island had been a profoundly disturbing one, Clanagan still invisible through the windows, hidden under a thick pall of smoke. Everyone had spent the first five minutes of the trip interrogating Lieutenant Omar, who didn't reveal much except that Ginga's suspicions were correct – they were being drafted into a new unit, Emergency Defense Mobile Striker Section 9, which he would be commanding – Ginga would be section subcommander, and that they'd definitely be deploying to fight the invaders as soon as possible. They were headed to Fort Rothschild, where'd he'd brief them further.

He claimed to not know exactly why the decision had been made in the first place, or why he'd been chosen as Commander – but at least he already knew about the Combat Cyborg project, and seemed… sensible. After that, however, he retreated into the cockpit and refused to answer any more questions.

The girls spent the rest of the trip talking about all the things that had happened recently, but Ginga couldn't bring herself to participate, given everything that had happened lately… Instead, she just spent the trip in silence, fretting to herself. She hated the whole affair - the invasion, of course, but especially whoever had gotten the impression they could call up Numbers as they wished, as if they owned them. She wasn't upset that they'd done the same to her, she was an officer of the Armed Forces, that was her job; but the girls were civilians, technically speaking, and drafting citizens had been illegal since the Foundation. It suggested something unpleasant - that whoever had ordered it was under the impression the Bureau could use the girls as tools **because **of who - and what they were, and that gave them the right to do whatever they pleased... she couldn't imagine the Bureau as a whole would approve of that, but she knew better than most that there were certainly **some**who wouldn't blink at making slaves of them.

Ginga knew she couldn't let that happen, but wasn't entirely certain how she could possibly do that. Refusing directly might destroy her career - or worse. She didn't have a terrific number of contacts to rely upon, either – her father would help her, naturally, but he was only a Major of a not particularly significant battalion, and didn't have much clout himself. Still, there was a chance… she hadn't spent most of the last three years in an investigative unit for nothing. If she somehow identified the party responsible, **then **she could act, somehow. She'd work out the details later. For now, she just had to worry about keeping the Numbers safe, and getting through this invasion… not that she was terribly confident in that – at least as subcommander, she wouldn't be in command of the entire unit, although whether Omar would be leading in combat, she didn't know. If he was, she hoped **he **knew what he was doing, at least.

The helicopter seemed to be slowing down – Ginga glanced out the window, figuring they must be nearing their destination. They were clearly outside of Clanagan by now, somewhere along the bay's western shore. She couldn't see much but water, but what she could see looked like a base… not too far ahead was a kilometers wide silvery artificial island – a holostage. There weren't too many of those – in fact, she didn't know of any on the west side of the bay except for…

"Hey…" Sein interjected. "didn't we blow this place up?"

Ginga - along with Wendi and - shifted over to look out Sein's window, on the helicopter's right side. True enough, on the ground in front of them was a familiar building, big enough to be a battalion headquarters, not terribly different from many other modular headquarters - the wedge-like facade covered with giant windows, interrupted by a slab-like tower in the middle, with flight deck up above - complete with an ocean-blue JF-704. But the location and surroundings were right - this was definitely the same place – Section Six, back from the dead.

"Technically, that was only Dido and myself." Otto replied.

"Looks like it didn't quite stick." Wendi said.

Ginga's heart raced faster – surely there had to be other suitable locations, so… who was this stunt meant for: her, or the Numbers? And what kind of purpose did it serve? Maybe to humiliate them into silence, or maybe… to offend them into rebellion? And why? She'd definitely try to prevent either event from coming to pass, and she'd try to find the answers to all her questions, once she had the chance...

"We're about to land." The pilot said. "Please take your seats."

Everyone rushed back to their seats as the helicopter swooped in, alighting roughly on the unoccupied landing pad, and then all got back up as the rotors began to spin down. The girls began to retrieve their baggage as Lieutenant Omar emerged from the cockpit.

"So... erm... why are we here?" Sein asked.

"Ah." The lieutenant replied. "This will be our base of operations. We'll be operating supply, intelligence, and the like from here. Plus, you can train on the holostage here."

"I think what she was asking was 'why are we _here_.'" Nove replied. "...and besides, we don't need any 'training'."

"Don't worry about it... I'm sure it was just a coincidence..." Ginga said, hoping to interrupt before anything more rash could be said.

Lieutenant Omar shrugged "'You break it, you buy it', I suppose? It's a direct order from the GFSC."

The 'Landing Clear' alarm buzzed, and Lieutenant Omar immediately took the opportunity to open the door - apparently seeing an unwanted conversation forming. "Alright. I'll take you downstairs to get oriented - pick your rooms, meet the rest of the staff..."

At that, he set off, heading for the stairwell.

_"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, is it?"_ Dieci asked.

_"It certainly isn't. I have no idea what's going on with the building."_ Ginga replied, transmitting the message to everyone. _"I'll... try to figure out what's behind this. Until then, it's probably best not to... say too much about it."_

_"I see. I'll do what I can to help you." _Otto transmitted.

The group obediently headed down the stairs, into the main assembly room. Four people were waiting there, scattered around the room – as they entered, the officers swiftly formed a line and saluted. Omar returned the salute, as did Ginga - and Wendi, albeit rather… unprofessionally… in her case.

The four people in the room were SSgt. Donahue, who had somehow gotten here without anyone noticing, a vaguely familiar looking light brown haired corporal, probably somewhere around her age; another corporal - this one a man, slightly older, thin and with reddish hair cut super-short; and somewhat unexpectedly, (but rather unsurprisingly), Dr. Atenza

"Ladies… I'd like to introduce you to the rest of the command staff of Section 9." Omar said, gesturing in their direction.

"You've already met Miran Donahue, Section Manager and Communications Officer... she will control the day-to-day operations of the bulk of the section, paperwork and the like, as well as coordinating with other units and operating our transmission equipment.

"Corporal Vyral Holton, our quartermaster – in charge of supplies, his job is to make sure we have all the cartridges, special equipment and the like we need. And food... that's important too." Omar explained, for any invisible bystanders that might not know.

"Maintenance of your Devices, however, will be handled by Second Warrant Officer Mariel Atenza – I understand you're already acquainted, Master Sergeant. She'll also be in charge of our medical personnel… hopefully that won't be unduly necessary…"

"Thank you sir." Mari replied, nodding. Next to the others and dressed in her uniform, she looked somewhat out of place, maybe ten centimeters shorter than the others, with her olive-green hair slicked backwards, and a decidedly non-military poise.

_"Devices… We'll be getting our equipment back?" _Dieci asked.

_" I suppose…"_ Ginga transmitted back.

"Finally, we have Corporal Alto Krauetta. She'll be our pilot - I'm sure you saw the JF-704 parked outside."

"Sir." Alto said. Ginga _did _recognize her now, from somewhere at Section 6, although she couldn't recall what her position had been then, though she was pretty sure it wasn't 'pilot'...

"Normally, there'd be a big, impressive ceremony, the whole section staff here, with speeches and everything, but under the circumstances..." Omar said, checking his datapad. "...It's been decided to forgo that. The rest of the staff is cleared and briefed, though."

That much was certainly true. Normally, it would take weeks to even start establishing a new unit, even a comparatively hasty Mobile unit. So either someone had **really **expedited the registration process, or they'd had this in the works for a while…

"These three, plus myself..." Omar continued, indicating everyone but Alto "...will form the command squad, callsign 'Storm'. Cpl. Krauetta's callsign is 'Halcyon 1', although, technically, that's the helicopter. Her personal callsign is 'Halcyon Principal'"

The Lieutenant finally paused to take a breath.

"Any questions?"

Wendi raised her hand.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Do you normally talk this much?"

Omar chuckled. A few of the others around the room grinned. For a brief moment, Ginga thought, Staff Sergeant Donahue looked _furious._ Then, a moment later, she regained her composure, no trace of her previous expression... although she certainly wasn't smiling.

"I have been told that before, yes." Omar said, nodding slightly shrugging. There was more laughing, before Omar moved on to introducing the Numbers and Ginga to the command squad, somehow even more unceremoniously than vice versa, Donahue still inexplicably glowering all the way through.

"Right..." Omar said, after he'd finished, handing a bundle of datapads to Ginga. She passed them down the line. "The rest of the squad organization is on these pads, but I will explain it anyways. Our forwards will be divided into two squads, Hurricane and Surge..."

_"Hurricane and Surge?" _Sein transmitted quizzically.

_"I guess it's a 'theme' thing." _Ginga replied._ "Squad names are sometimes… silly."_

_"It's still stupid." _Nove said.

"Each squad will consist of four members, including a squad commander and sub-commander." The lieutenant continued. "The rosters I have here are those created by striker command, designed to each have an even balance of tactical roles… you're familiar with TSAB tactical positions, right?"

"Obviously." Nove answered. Of course, it was hardly what Ginga would call 'obvious' since **she** had been the one to explain it. The Numbers apparently hadn't done things that way.

"Yes, essentially..." Cinque added.

"Good." Omar said. "That's good. Anyways, the rosters: For Hurricane Squad, we have Ginga - Hurricane 1, section subcommand and squad commander; Cinque - Hurricane 2, squad subcommander; Dieci - Hurricane 3; and Dido - Hurricane 4. For Surge Squad, Otto will be squad commander, ergo Surge 1; subcommander Surge 2, Nove; Surge 3 Wendi; and Sein as Surge 4. You should memorize these call signs, and use them exclusively when you're in the field, in order to preserve transmissions security."

"What makes you think the enemy can intercept transmissions?" Otto asked. "Even with Uno's talents, decrypting yours was rather difficult, and we were familiar with your algorithms..."

"True." Dido said, nodding. "Plus, even if they can, we have our radios."

Omar shrugged again. "We don't know if they can read our transmissions, or even if they can detect them. However, in absence of any evidence, we can't discount the possibility. As for the radios... they appear to use a similar system for their own communications. It's almost certainly insecure."

"So what?" Nove replied. "It's not exactly like our real names will tell them that much."

"Yeah... they're basically numbers already." Sein said.

"With those squad names we're actually giving away _more _information..." Wendi added.4

That was a pretty good point, Ginga had to admit; and one of the main reasons for radio callsigns was concern over possible covert retribution, which wasn't really a concern with the Krieg invaders... probably. Still, there were other good reasons for the practice...

"That's true... but the enemy won't be the only ones listening. Cracking a transmission is hard, but obviously not impossible." Ginga said, gesturing towards Otto for emphasis. "And in any case, we will likely be working with other units - the callsign helps to quickly identify the unit and the individual's position within that unit."

She left out 'and certain soldiers wouldn't be pleased to learn they were working with Combat Cyborgs', but figured they knew that...

"Uhh... yeah. Very good explanation, Sergeant." Omar said.

"Dont'ya mean 'Hurricane 1'." Wendi commented.

"You don't have to use them here, or face to face." Omar replied, sighing. "Now, Corporal Holton will take you to your rooms, so you can chose the ones you want, drop off your effects, and change. Except you, Miss 'Surge 3'. You can help Halcyon Principal wash down her helicopter."

"Not fair!"

"If anything, it's lax, considering the insubordination you just exhibited... or didn't your Doctor ever teach you to shut up?" Sergeant Donahue snapped.

"Yes sir..." Wendi replied.

Ginga gritted her teeth, trying to confirm she'd actually just heard that. Everyone else seemed, if not quite as surprised, at least somewhat dismayed. She understood that they'd been the Bureau's enemies before, and people didn't understand what they'd actually been through, but... still, she'd hoped that at least the officers of their own unit could exhibit some decency.

"Wendi: While I don't demand absolute seriousness, you don't need to make that joke out of everything I say. Sergeant Donahue: I can take care of my own business. Furthermore, I expect you to treat our guests with the same respect you would any Collaborator." Lieutenant Omar said, breaking the silence. "That is all. Sergeant Nakajima, I'd like a word. The rest of you are dismissed."

The rest of the group left the room, the girls following after Holton, Cpl. Krauetta heading to the roof with Wendi... and Donahue storming out to who knows where.

"You think she might be a problem?" Ginga asked – to her, the earlier comment was proof enough. The last thing the girls needed – or that Ginga needed – was someone taunting them about their past…

"Maybe… Believe me she wouldn't have been my first choice." Omar said. "However, she was assigned by Striker Command. Very specifically. Honestly… I couldn't guess why."

It was looking increasingly like someone in Striker Command had it in for them. If she was lucky, Ginga thought, it was only a few 'someones'... She considered telling Omar her suspicions for a brief moment, then thought better of it: he seemed like a decent person, but he had been placed here by Striker Command as well and seem to trust their orders implicitly – far from a bad quality in an officer, but it meant there was a chance he'd simply take her story to his commander. She couldn't risk that.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about, though. A fair bit of the organizational chart is set in stone, but... you know these people, and..."

"I'm a Combat Cyborg too..." Ginga finished.

"Erm… that's not… well, yes. More importantly though, you've… You know these girls' abilities, and you're familiar how they work together. I'm asking if there's anything in particular you can you use? Any adjustments that should be made?"

"We've sparred a bit, but never really did anything... tactical. I mean..." Ginga replied, failing to surpress a shudder. She still had nightmares about the only time they'd actually 'fought together'... She swiftly interrupted herself before she could think about it. "What kind of 'adjustments'?"

"Organizational changes, special equipment, those sorts of things."

"Ah..." Ginga replied. She'd _hoped _that was he'd meant, but couldn't be entirely certain, given everything that was happening... damn, she was growing paranoid. Luckily, while the roster was fairly well done, she had noted a few things she'd have done differently.

"... first of all, I would put Cinque in command of Surge squad, and make Otto my subcommander. Otto is pretty good at getting things organized, but I think Cinque is a more natural leader."

"That'd leave Hurricane with two Rear Attackers..." Omar noted. Normally, a squad's members were supposed to be skilled in a variety of combat styles so that they'd be prepared for any situation that might arise. Of course, that also meant the squad wasn't focus on a single role, but it was generally considered an acceptable compromise, and Striker units in particular weren't big enough to specialize. Concentrating personnel by role meant that each group could be highly effective for its particular purpose… but also that each group was dependent on the others for support.

Ginga checked her datapad. "Dieci, you mean? You could move her to Surge, put Wendi in Hurricane. I'd rather have her - Wendi, that is - and Nove together... but actually, I'd rather keep things that way. Unless specializing is out of the question?"

"Hmm. I'll consider that. It's not impossible... I'll need to get clearance for roster changes, either way, so it won't happen for a few days at least."

If Striker Command was still acting spiteful, that could make things difficult. Fortunately things would work either way, so it wasn't a major concern. Ginga had one more question, though.

"You mentioned something about new equipment?"

"Yes. We have devices for all of you... custom storage devices designed hardened and optimized for your data. Doctor Atenza has also offered to make some adjustments to your own device as well."

"I don't know how popular that will be..." Ginga said. The girls had become quite used to their old gear - or at least, knowledge of its workings had been hypnopaedically imprinted into them. Still, the enemy used mass weapons - there was no way in hell she was exposing them in lightly armored AMP suits...

"Well. If there's nothing else in particular, then that's it. You've got lunch, then I'll give you your equipment, then you've got the holostage free until... 2200."

"That'll be... fun, I guess." Ginga said. "I guess I'll head to the cafeteria, then."

She quickly exited as Omar dismissed her, only to find Mariel waiting for her just outside the announcement room. "Hey, Ginga. I didn't expect to see you for a month..."

"Yeah... we'll be stepping down to once a year after that?"

"Depending on how the exam goes, probably..." Mari said. "...since you're not growing as quickly, yearly adjustments should be enough. That's... not actually _all _I had to say, though..."

"I thought so. I'm going to get some food, would you like to come with me?"

"I can't, I have to get the equipment set up..."

"I see."

She did so, grabbing a plate of sausage and rice, and sitting down at one of the side tables to wait for the girls. Sein was the first to arrive, inexplicably wearing a Ground Forces uniform, and looking rather uncomfortable in it.

"Why are you wearing that uniform?" Ginga asked as Sein sat down across from her, carrying her own plate.

"Quartermaster guy told us to wear them... I dunno." She replied,

"That's strange. As civilian collaborators, you don't have to wear them..."

"We're apparently 'temporary mages' now." Nove said, taking a seat beside Ginga. "Whatever the difference is."

"It's... well, it's not all that much, really

, but still... it's a principle thing."

"You really shouldn't worry about those things so much." Nove commented, in between devouring bits of her lunch. "Feels a bit... weird, though."

Ginga nodded. "The clothing itself, or wearing the uniform?" The issue probably wasn't worth stressing over now, but still left her feeling... queasy. Perhaps precisely **because **it was so utterly pointless - what kind of point was 'High Command' trying to make? Or was she just spiraling swiftly into paranoia?

"Kinda both." Sein said. "It's a lot better than the rags we were supposed to wear at Kuran, though. Does feel a bit..."

"Inappropriate?" Cinque suggested, walking up to stand behind Nove's chair - Ginga noted the inside of the circle on her rank badge was solid - Private First Class, as opposed to Private. They'd given them actual ranks, too?. Dieci, meanwhile, was now in line for food. "It's strange to wear this, knowing..."

"It wasn't your fault." Ginga said. "And... it's not quite the same, but I remember feeling pretty similar the first times I wore it my uniform... like I didn't belong..."

The others looked at her strangely for a moment. "Really?" Cinque asked.

"Like I said, not the same... I felt like I didn't belong... I think everyone does, actually. But I was also worried that I didn't have a choice. As if I'd somehow been... programmed to join?" Ginga replied. "Also, I knew more than most kids how... corrupt... the Bureau could be, and... I felt as if I was betraying... something... by working for them? I'm sorry. This isn't really important." Damnit, she'd been rambling on again. The truth was, for a long time, she'd suspected that the Bureau had killed her mother... That didn't turn out to be true, of course - instead, it was quite possible that Cinque had killed her mother. She'd determinedly avoided the subject, and didn't intend to stop now...

"Did you ever actually _fight_ the Bureau?" Nove asked.

"Well... no..." Ginga replied.

Cinque frowned sympathetically. "I appreciate you telling us that, though."

"You sound like a psych." Sein said. It did certainly sound like something stolen from the Kuran's Island psychologists, but then Cinque tended to talk like that anyways…

Cinque glared at her. "Shush."

She paused for a moment, cradling her chin in her hand. "...I suppose we're both much better off than the first time I wore my combat suit. I'd just abruptly switched sides then, and it wasn't even really my choice. Moreover, I was hurt, and I'd just 'slept' the better part of a decade. Although... I didn't really think that much of it at the time."

"Heh. I was just glad to have something to cover myself with." Sein replied.

Nove scowled. "We were almost born in that suit, it doesn't count."

Ginga shuddered. She'd probably brought that upon herself, but... she did not like to be reminded of that time, and thinking about those AMP suits did nothing to help, even if, she supposed, they themselves weren't that bad...

Anyways, what was she going to do? Tell the girls they couldn't talk about a good 60-95 percent of their lives? That was seriously unreasonable, to say nothing of being terrible for all of them. She just didn't ever want to remember what it felt like... to be a helpless prisoner in her own body... and to always wonder, if she hadn't been so weak...

Meanwhile, a nearby backyard soldier suddenly seemed to realize who he was sitting next to, and hurriedly left for another table. Ginga distracted herself by glaring bitterly at him. Now that she looked... the table seemed a lot more empty than before - they practically had a twenty-person table to themselves, their only companions a pair of housekeepers a bit to the right, who shared a frightened glance and quickly packed up to leave...

"Boo." Dido said, standing directly behind them - somehow Ginga had been distraught enough she hadn't noticed her or Otto coming.

Almost immediately, both shrieked in surprise, one tipped over his chair and fell splayed out on the ground, while the other leapt up and sent rice flying everywhere. They quickly regained their composure, and backed away.

"Assholes." Nove muttered after the retreating staff. STUFF?

"Hello." Dido said, smiling slightly as she sat down next to Sein.

"What were you doing all this time, making out in the hall? There was only one bedroom left." Sein asked.

"Er... no, that's not it..." Otto stammered. "I had to confirm the arrangements: Dido and myself will take Room..."

"I don't **really **need to know right now..." Ginga replied. Otto was wearing a **Lance Corporal's** insignia, for some reason, as well as...

"Pants?" Ginga asked. "I mean, it's completely optional either way, but..."

"Habit." Otto said, shrugging.

"I'm wearing uniform pants, too." Nove said - she was, apparently Otto was somehow just more noticeable. "Anyways, we're getting a pardon once this is over, so... what are you guys going to do?"

"I don't know." Cinque said "Find someplace to live, first."

"Any idea where?" Otto asked.

"Not yet." Cinque replied. "Maybe somewhere around here, like Teadale Bluff. Or possibly…"

"That wasn't exactly what I meant." Nove said.

"You mean like work stuff?" Sein asked, impaling a bit of sausage on her fork. "Do we even need to do that? I mean, there's that… money thing."

"Annuity fund?" Ginga suggested. Every MIDAS cyborg received a rather hefty sum - 15 million Capitals each year - combination reparations and payment for silence. It was enough to live decently well on on its own, but she'd never been interested in that. For the mean time, though, it wasn't a bad idea.

"Yeah, that one." Sein said.

"Can't sit around doing nothing." Nove replied, as though it were an axiom. "Hey, Ginga, do you think you can get me a job?"

"You mean… in the Armed Forces?"

"Yeah. What I'm best at, isn't it?"

Ginga had been afraid of this possibility for a while, but… she'd hoped the Bureau wouldn't press the subject… now, though, it appeared that the conspirators had been planning this for a long time - they'd only taken advantage of the disaster to put things into motion. And everything seemed to be going perfectly for them… But Ginga was not going to allow the girls to end up press-ganged into the military just because they thought they had no other option.

"Service in the Armed Forces isn't just about fighting things. Don't do it just because you think it's expected." She snapped. Harsh, but they didn't fully understand the implications. If she wasn't a bit harsh, every bit of progress they'd made could be wiped away. Still, it wasn't exactly productive - she took a deep breath, and continued, more softly. "If you still really want to join - to protect people, not just because fighting is 'what you're best at', then yeah, I can help you. Otherwise, that wouldn't really be helping."

"You have a better idea?" Nove shot back.

"Anything other than exactly what they want you to do."

"They? Who the hell is 'they'?" Nove asked - not only was she _not _lowering her voice, she stood up.

"Ginga, is it really…" Cinque interrupted.

"I'm not sure. I really can't talk here…"

"Your wireless broken?"

"These are the people that _wrote _those encryption protocols." She whispered, leaning in closer. "The Bureau isn't all sunshine and roses."

"So why the hell did _you _join?!"

"That was different, my mother…"

"Nove! Ginga!" Cinque yelled, pushing in between the two of them, then quickly half-bowing, half saluting as she realized what she was doing. "Forgive me… Nove - Sein and Ginga have a point. We shouldn't rush into a decision - especially an irreversible one - without some research. However… we should also try to stay calm - sir."

Ginga took another deep breath - she wasn't upset at any insubordination - she'd lost her temper first, after all. Nove was still glaring at her a bit coldly, but she'd backed off. In the meantime, they'd attracted the attention of basically the whole cafeteria. People were staring at them in a combination of shock and morbid curiosity, shaking their heads, or purposely avoiding looking in their direction. In the distance, Donahue was gleefully taking down notes on her datapad.

"Thank you." Ginga said. "I… overreacted."

"Right." Nove replied, slumping down into her chair. The rest of the staff slowly began to resume their prior conversation. Ginga glared over at Donahue, who looked up from her notes to smirk back at her. She wasn't sure if Donahue was working - whether consciously or unconsciously - with the conspirators, or if she was just a random asshole. But… none of the Numbers were really ready to deal with the world at large yet - perhaps _that _was what the conspiracy was out to prove? In that case… well, they'd have a pretty easy time of it.

Sheesh. Here she was, talking about conspiracies and secret plots again. It seemed so certain but… sometimes she felt like she was going insane. Or rather, she knew she was - she thought she was starting to get over September. It was kind of ironic, but helping the girls had helped her too. Now that that was all in jeopardy, her fragile progress had, well, shattered. And it wasn't like she could take the time off to see Psych she probably should - the girls needed her now. She'd just have to do the best she…

Wendi interrupted her thoughts by sliding onto the end of the table, a little bit of rice tipping through the air. Dieci stood nearby, looking vaguely bemused, then sighed and took a seat in an actual chair.

"So hey guys, what did I miss?" Wendi asked

"Well, we were talking about uniforms…" Sein explained "What we were going to do after this is over… Nove and Gin tried to kill each other…"

"Ah, is that all?" Wendi said. "Figures."

"We were just talking." Nove said.

"You were talking very loudly." Dido noted.

"I clearly heard that argument from the bathroom." Dieci said

"Our hearing is quite good to begin with…" Otto said.

"It wasn't anything important." Ginga replied. "But can you please not sit on the table."

With a little bit of coaxing, she did so, and the conversation went back to housing plans (carefully avoiding the subject of jobs). Ginga helped as Cinque and Otto debated the merits of various housing arrangements as Dido looked on, occasionally commenting. Meanwhile, Wendi and Sein busily planned an epic journey across half of Bureau space and quite a few places beyond. Dieci periodically flitted between the two groups, and Nove sorta sulked in the direction of the vacation planning group.

Not much was actually accomplished, but no one was arguing too fervently, and it served as a nice distraction until lunch ended. Afterward, they were all called outside, in order to receive their new equipment. Lieutenant Omar and Mariel were already there waiting for them, with several storage crates laid out on or around a small folding table

"Alright, everyone. The TSAB has issued a device for each of you. These are quite a bit higher than standard issue. They've all been calibrated for your specifications, though you'll be able to adjust some of the features for yourself, and they're all outfitted with the standard equipment package - storage system with auto-equip function, barrier jacket..."

He opened one the smaller of the carrying cases atop the table, to reveal a set of squarish tabs, consisting of a thin layer of crystal sandwiched between metal - standard-pattern storage system chits, each inscribed with an ancient-style numeral.

"We already have equipment." Nove said. "What's wrong with that?"

Ginga thought it was a bit of strange question - she hadn't heard many good things about Scaglietti's equipment, from her or anyone else - though Ginga could understand why she might be a bit standoffish over this whole thing...

"Your old equipment is very... focused." Lieutenant Omar replied. "It's designed entirely to fight mages, relying entirely on Synthetic Dark Energy in order to allow the use of anti-magic fields for defense. So it doesn't process magic very well - or at all, actually - and since it's designed to fight mages, it's not likely to be effective against the invaders, who don't seem to use magic... perhaps a demonstration is in order."

"That shouldn't be necessary." Cinque said, reaching for the devices. "I'd like to see..."

"I insist." Omar said, opening the crate on the ground. Mariel pressed her palm to her face, as the lieutenant activated several buttons, and a training dummy of some sort appeared from storage... wearing a MIDAS AMP suit. Ginga staggered back in shock, before quickly recovering her footing and shaking her head. It was clothing, and couldn't hurt her.

The gorget tag was blank, but it was the same pale-blue wrapped in mid-range blue pattern as... the real thing. Apparently either Scaglietti couldn't be bothered to change the colors from default, or someone involved in this whole affair had specifically designed it to be the same - probably Donahue, although how she'd do that as a communications officer...

… actually, there was no reason to believe it was Donahue. It was unlikely she was responsible for every bad thing that way happening.

"How do you turn this thing on..." Omar asked, searching the for controls.

"There's a control panel on the back." Dieci said, leaning in to activate it. The AMP hummed to life - apparently there was some power source attached, a heavy feeling of static filling the air for a moment before stabilizing out. Several nearby lights, on in the daytime for some reason, flickered and extinguished. Mariel's computer blinked, before determinedly turning back on in monochrome.

"**This **is a Surinom

Technical Supplies Model 5-N4 Anti-Magilink-Projector

Suit, modified for use with SDE for the Midas project. Rubberized synthetic polymers over integrated AMF circuitry and...

"Yes, yes, we **all know this.**" Ginga said. She wasn't supposed to be so terse with a superior officer, but... that damned suit was making it hard to concentrate on protocol.

"I didn't know that." Sein commented.

Fortunately, the Lieutenant ignored Ginga's remark, and tapped a button on his plastic wristband before remembering he'd just turned on an AMF. He retrieved a pair of rubber gloves from beneath the table, and hastily put them on manually, before inputting a code into the larger of the two boxes and carefully retrieving a large, bulky rifle-type weapon, colored steel-grey and heavily worn.

"And **this **is the standard armament of the enemy forces. A mid-range electric laser, and, apparently, one of the weaker weapons in their arsenal."

Omar aimed the weapon at the dummy, and fired, the instantaneous flash of light burning a trail of plasma through the air, and scorching a mark the size of Ginga's palm into the material.

He aimed upwards, the beam striking the featureless bare head - it was almost blasted clear off, only the metal framework surviving. Then he turned back down to the suit itself, firing again and again. The armored fibres blistered from the heat, enduring the first few hits with little more than black splotches. The next beams, however, sheared through the already weakened material and blasted away bits of the simulation gel underneath... Ginga felt could feel goosebumps on her skin from the static as the field flickered on and off... Twenty shots in, the AMP suit was in ribbons, the scent of burnt plastic hung in the air, and the dummy had actually broken in half, only a few smoldering bits of simulation gel remaining of the torso area.

It was an effective enough demonstration, Ginga supposed... but it was also completely pointless. Nove's obstinacy aside, no one here didn't understand the concept that a anti-magic field wouldn't work against EM weapons.

"That was twenty shots. A third of a clip. We haven't seen the enemy operate in groups of less than five." Omar concluded, shouldering the rifle and smiling broadly.

"Well... that's just a dummy, and..." Nove retorted, although she didn't seem to really believe it - Ginga doubted their bodies would fare particularly well against weapons like that laser, herself... sure, they'd probably _survive_ getting hit by it, but it would not feel pleasant.

"Was all that really necessary?" Ginga asked.

"Probably not, but I wanted to show you what you'll be dealing with." Omar replied. He still seemed entirely too fond of his own cleverness for anyone's good. At least he seemed to _try _though, and would probably have the sense to stay out of the way. Plus, he wasn't Donahue, whatever her problem was.

"Please, just... take your equipment." Mariel said, shaking her head.

The girls all reached over to the box more or less at once, but it didn't take long before things were sorted out and everyone had their appropriately numbered device. Ginga decided not to be annoyed by that, because she'd probably have done the same thing. Now, she just hoped that Lieutenant Omar wouldn't launch into an in-depth description of how to activate them...

"Right. Now, to activate them, say what's written on the attached paper, and that will start the set up sequence. Then simply imagine whatever kind of jacket design you want, and the computer will take care of the rest."

Okay, that wasn't so bad.

Everyone proceeded to read their pass-phrase - a series of numbers for 'simplicity', and their storage systems flashed for a moment as they changed into their new Barrier Jackets. In terms of superficial design, they were… interesting. There was a lot of similarity to the AMP suits, especially in terms of color - there was a lot of blue involved - but also quite a few differences. The only one wearing what could be called a pure bodysuit was Sein, some of the others had tight-fitting parts of their clothes, but then, her own 'Jacket was fairly tight fitting. Actually, a few of the girls seemed to have imitated it - Nove had a somewhat similar 'armor' plate over her upper chest, although hers was more… defined - meanwhile, Dieci had a similar light bodysuit, though it was more greyish than white, and she had a knee-length waistcloak. Otto and Cinque were both wearing longcoats of some variety, Dido had a simple design vaguely reminescent of a single-shouldered dress. Meanwhile, Wendi was wearing a purple… bathing suit, complete with cleavage window.

It was simpler than usual, and it certainly wasn't high fashion, even by military standards, but they were practical enough - and far from the worst 'Jackets Ginga had seen. That honor went to a man from the 268th Ground Battalion, who, among other things, had a bird for a hat. Just a giant freaking bird, with a generator stuck in it, and mounted on his head. It may well have been a real bird, at that.

In terms of weapons, Otto and Sein both had obvious devices - some variety of SX-18 in Otto's case, and what looked like a small combat staff for Sein. Other than that, things had remained much the same, though the designs seemed perhaps a bit more angular than was typical of TSAB design. It was particularly evident with Dieci's device, which seemed to have maybe two actual curves in as many meters of it… it was odd enough it seemed like it might be worth looking up who built them.

"See?" Omar said. "Worked fine. You can control the settings through normal monitors, but they've also been set up to work through your... contact synapse ?"

Otto nodded in conformation, as a monitor opened in front of Sein, then switched through various pages, apparently by way of testing? A faint _bzik_ sounded through the air as her 'Jacket rapidly switched on and off. "Looks good..." Sein said, clearly about to add something, before Omar cut her off.

"Great. Anyways, I'll let Warrant Officer Atenza explain the technical details. I'm going to secure the holostage."

_"The holostage? Are we going to practice there?" _Dieci asked.

_"I expect so, we need the time to get used to new equipment." _Ginga transmitted. _"Plus we're all a bit out of it, so__…"_

_"We'll see..." _Dido replied.

Mari softly cleared her throat, sparing Ginga from another explanation on the flaws of hypnopaedics.

"Now, you may know most of this, but… while the Synthetic Dark Energy your systems generate operates on a different frequency from normal magic - hence why it can work through an Anti-Magic Field, it isn't fundamentally different. It's like… the difference between heat and light. This means its possible to design a Device that can work with an synchronize both - and that's what these are. Full compatibility with SDE, reinforced for high point values, and optimized for your individual magical patterns - that includes your unique abilities. It will take a little bit more energy than you're used to, since you're using your natural MPV in addition to the artificial, but overall, your performance should improve by 50 to 80 percent right now. Of course, you have full Barrier Jackets too, which will provide protection against mass or energy weapons. Given your MPV, it should be quite a bit of protection…"

"Still, don't rely on it…" Ginga noted.

"As for the specifics of your individual devices, I've been told not to describe them in detail right now, since Omar wants you to start practicing before sundown…" Mari said, shrugging. "But I've included full documentation in these datapads _and _the internal memory. You'll be able to customize a lot of the settings too - I've left them at something like a default for now, so you'll probably want to change them to match your own preferences… all in all, however, everything should work basically like it did before, just better - though there are few major additions, especially for Otto… and Dieci, since you've got a cartridge system now."

"I… I seem to have a stick." Sein noted, holding up her quarterstaff-like device.

"Yes. They call it the E-1A3 hybrid armed device. Capable of quickly shifting from that staff to a compressed mode mounted on the wrist… but it's still active, so either way, you'll benefit from enhanced magic. It'll increase both your offensive and defensive capabilities significantly, and it's versatile enough to do so in basically any manner you want."

"Right…" Sein said. She flicked her arm, and the 'stick' collapsed and folded away into a thin rod running down her right forearm, like a bracer. "I see that, but I don't really need any 'offensive and defensive capabilities' - I'm designed for infiltration, not combat, so Deep Diver is really…"

"Infiltration is a lot more useful if you aren't restricted to observation." Ginga said. "We have searchers for that. Phasing is potentially really powerful, but not if it's your only talent. It can't be, if you want to fight in an actual war like this." She caught herself making the same assumption as Dayvor, and corrected herself - the girls weren't _her _pet army, either. "I mean, if you _don't_ want to, I understand that…"

"Yeah. You're welcome to go back to the island." Nove interjected.

"That's not what I meant, Nove. I mean, I suppose that's what would happen, but I'd totally support you, and I'm sure…"

"Enough!" Sein yelled. "I told you I wanted to help, and I'm not leaving my sisters. I just… I was never really taught anything else, so I what I know will have to be good enough."

"For what it's worth, Ginga is right..." Mari said. "But that's what the Holostage is for - so you'll have the opportunity to learn whatever it is you need to."

"Heaven knows, it's not like _I _don't need practice too."

"Heheh… about that." Mari said, blushing. "We actually have a series of upgrades lined up for Blitz Caliber - the same basic firmware upgrades as your sister's device, as well as integration of an ACS and Limit Break system. So… I'll need to borrow your device."

Ginga pressed her forehead into her palm. "How I am supposed to lead a training session without a device?"

"There's a Training Jacket available for you, so at least you can supervise." Mariel said, handing her a jacket wrapped up in a cardboard box. But this should only take a few hours at most. You should be able rejoin fully a little after noon."

"Couldn't we wait until tonight?" Ginga suggested. "That way I could train with the rest of the girls now, you could do the upgrades while we sleep.

"Omar wants it done ASAP, says we can't know if anything will come up in the meantime."

Something could happen _during _the upgrade, too, and it was important to get as much training in as possible - but she wasn't going to argue with the CO's orders in front of everyone.

"Alright." She said, unfastening Blitz Caliber from its chain and gently placing it Mariel's hand. "Just be quick."

Mariel nodded, stepped back, and practically sprinted towards the armory. Ginga changed clothes as quickly as she could, and shepherded the others to the 'stage. It was going to be an **interesting **day.

Hostile Dimensional Ship Crash Site, 11 kilometers northeast of Zolice.

Central Mid-Childa, approximately 540 kilometers west of Clanagan.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1046 Hours

The alarms were still blaring, and tramping footsteps seemed to echo from all around, but it didn't seem like anyone was actively pursuing them - her 'diversion' seemed to have worked… still, Nanoha realized it probably wouldn't last. They could easily outrun their pursuers, or usually out-fight them, but the enemy knew the ship well, and seemed to be **everywhere**, and seemed to have the ability to just materialize from a side passage that had looked like a pile of metal seconds before. And it was only going to get worse - they'd shot down the large enemy airship, but that somehow hadn't stopped it from deploying a small army on top of them…The sooner they got out of this deathtrap, the better - she hurried through the labyrinthine corridors with less than due caution, trying to catch up with her team.

Well, what was **left**of her team. Their encounter with the armored soldiers, what she assumed to be some kind of enemy elites, had… destroyed them. One on one, they weren't much of threat - but when dozens of skilled soldiers spring an ambush in a confined space, without the slightest concern for their own safety, it was devastating. The team had only 'escaped' after leaving half of its members dead, including Aurand. Maybe, if she had her full strength,she'd have been able to save them - she'd overestimated her recovery… again. As it was, she consoled herself that she'd pushed herself as hard as she could, medical advice or not - after all, she'd come uncomfortably close to dying herself, though her barrier jacket had saved her - barely. Her nose was probably broken, the grenade that had been the last straw for her the jacket seemed to have bruised her all the way through, and a dozen other pains marred her body… but otherwise, the soldiers had been efficient - most of the people who had been seriously injured were killed… and their prisoner was gone, too, apparently the victim of crossfire - after all that effort to keep him from killing himself…

Nanoha caught up with the others in a a small stairwell less than a minute later - judging by the mass of unconscious crewmen strewn about the stairs, it seemed that they'd run into opposition. She spotted them at the top of the staircase, almost maniacally checking angles before moving into the upper corridor, and generally looking unbelievably haggard - though, she probably didn't look much better. One of the Enforcers, looking over the stairs, apparently saw her coming, quickly pointed his device at her…

Nanoha was stepping aside from the shot before she even fully heard the crack. It slammed into the bottom of the stairwell, carving a crater somewhat to the left of where she'd been standing.

"Hey!" Nanoha shouted.

"Captain?" The man replied, his expression more like disbelief than anything else, his otherwise dust-caked barrier jacket tattered around the collar and soaked in blood. "You're alive!"

"At the moment…" Nanoha replied, leaping to the upper platform, and glancing down the far corridor. It looked vaguely familiar - they were back on their original path. The remaining enforcers all turned towards her, expectantly. There were three of them left now: the man who'd just shot at her - his otherwise dust-caked barrier jacket tattered around the collar and soaked in blood (though she didn't look much better), Schafer, whose leg had been injured earlier, and a third she didn't immediately recognize. "It shouldn't be far now. We need to keep moving."

"How do we even know anyone in the docking bay is still alive?!" The third enforcer asked.

Nanoha paused, shaking her head. Fate was as powerful as she was on her best day, and right now, she wasn't at a quarter of her power… if anyone would be okay, it would be her. At least… that's what Nanoha was hoping. "I… we can't be sure. But Fate's with them, and we can still hear weapons fire coming from there."

"But they haven't sent us any transmissions." Vice Enforcer Kowle - that was Friendly Fire Guy's name, according to Nanoha's AVS - said.

She hadn't heard anything from Fate since after she'd told her about the earlier attack… but they were already under attack at that point, so obviously…

"They probably haven't had the chance." Nanoha said. "They're fighting right now… We don't have time to waste!"

At that, she set off towards the landing bay, the rest hesitantly falling in after her. But they were coming, and that was what was important. The route they'd taken last time took them roughly along the central corridor of the ship. She couldn't be sure, but Nanoha guessed that the Krieg presence would be particularly strong in those areas, and they couldn't afford to fight through crowds of enemies, even if everything went perfectly.

"Yes, but what if they _are _dead?" The third Enforcer commented.

"Then I'll **destroy **every last one of these bastards." Nanoha replied, not breaking step. "_Raising Heart. Any suggestions for an alternate route?"_

"_Yes, Master. There Is A Possible Path Along The Outer Hull. Estimated Probability Of Hostile Contact, 17%. Estimated Time, 3 Minutes."_

"_Thank you__…" _Nanoha transmitted - Raising Heart opened a monitor showing the new route - unsurprisingly, it added a bit more distance to their trip, hugging the ship's port side until it came up a bit forwards of the 'docking bay'… but if they really didn't run into anyone, it'd take much less time, and hopefully have them coming in from an angle the foe wouldn't expect.

"Okay. We'll take a new route… it should get us around the enemy forces. Everyone, follow me." Nanoha said…

They moved on down the appointed route, Nanoha hurrying the group on as fast as she thought was remotely safe - though, fortunately, it seemed that their predictions had been correct, and they didn't encounter anyone else - but that couldn't last. As they ascended the elevator for the final leg of their trip, the ever present sound of weapons fire grew louder and more immediate. The four of them stood alert, devices at the ready for any sign of trouble. Slowly, gradually, the elevator ground to a halt, its huge gears shrieking. It seemed to be empty, just a long, narrow corridor ahead, choked with pipes and indecipherable mechanisms - the group moved into position, Nanoha carefully leaning behind a small column of gears and chains without actually touching them.

"_I'll look ahead. Standby__…"_ Nanoha transmitted, conjuring a searcher in her palm. She sent it onwards, weaving through the stacks, and finally passing through a door at the end of the corridor… taking it into the hall circling the docking bay. The enemy was already waiting for them, a trio of uniformed soldiers manning what looked like some kind of machine gun, with a cluster of ragged crewmen gathered around them. One of the soldiers quickly noticed the searcher, leveled his laser, and the signal winked out. Well, now the enemy knew they were somewhere around here, but it was a lot better than walking into that corridor blind…

"How thick is that bulkhead, anyways…" Nanoha asked.

"Penetration Is Possible." Raising Heart replied, answering the unspoken question. "Divine Buster, One Cartridge Sufficient."

Raising Heart highlighted the last known position of all the soldiers the searcher had seen - Nanoha backed up, signaling the others to hold for the moment, centered the machine gun in her sights, focused…

The beam tore through the piping, and the wall beyond. She chased down the path of the beam as the light faded, the rest of her team following after her, all concealed by smoke…

"_Nanoha..." _Fate's voice called out, resoundingly clear against the din. _"__… you're just in time."_

Nanoha rushed out of the smoke, quickly firing a barrage at a cluster of soldiers and crewmen that hadn't been hit by the bombardment. She kept moving, heading towards a small entrance into the bay itself, as the rest of the Enforcers followed after her.

"_I'm just glad we're here__…" _Nanoha replied

The remaining crew members started backing away, a second round of fire sending them running around the corner. Nanoha ran ahead, making her way over the slumped forms of what seemed like a dozen crewmen as she turned into the bay itself.

An enforcer stood off to the side of the door, firing at one of the soldiers along the long wall of the bay. Meanwhile, across the room, a battle was still ongoing - laser fire and Shooting bolts flashing, a crowd of armed crewmen pressing inwards. Nanoha spotted Fate in the melee, slashing through the enemy with Bardiche's Scythe Form, hair and cloak whipping through the dusty air, her every swift motion demonstrating an almost casual fervor…

But this was no time for admiration. Nanoha focused in, sending a cluster of shots towards the enemy at the outer wall, then switching targets and firing at the group in close combat… by the time Nanoha had fired a third shot, the enemy was quickly beginning to peter off, afraid to come closer - moments later, the crew scattered away in panic, the soldiers left over slowly backing away. Fate dashed forward, cleaving through two of them as she passed by - a moment later, they collapsed almost simultaneously. The remainder hastened out of the room, firing a hail of rapid-fire bolts back at them as the went…

Nanoha ran to Fate's side as the last of the enemy disappeared behind the outer wall. Bardiche switched out of scythe mode as Fate lowered it from the ready position…

"Fate!" Nanoha shouted, finally taking the time to fully account for their own group - Shario was peering out from behind a pile of crates, with Doctor Tranter devotedly working on a datapad next to her. Besides Fate, another four enforcers were scattered around the room, along with all three pilots… and there were another three lying inside the helicopters, injured or dead… adding the three more with her, that made a total of fourteen, and there was no sign of Kemmel or her team… "Is this everyone?"

Fate nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so…" She glanced towards the doorway behind her. "You drove them off, but it won't be long before they attack again. We should go."

"What about Agent Kemmel?"

"Her last transmission stated she was being overrun, shortly before you were attacked… I don't think we can do anything…"

"Yes, but…"

There was an sudden, shuddering boom as something exploded just outside the entrance, a hail of tiny fragments ringing as they impacted on the outer edge of the bay. Immediately, Nanoha's attention went to Shario and Tranter - Shari had been hit in the leg, and was curled up in pain… Nanoha ran over to her…

"That complicates things!" Fate shouted as a second boom echoed through the air as another shell detonated on impact with the ship's hull some distance down. "…we have to suppress their cannons to get out of here anyways."

"Right!" Nanoha yelled back, sliding in next to Shari. A third shell streaked past - Nanoha reacted immediately, summoning a barrier in the split second before it detonated, pattering her and the floor around her with a rain of tiny fragments. She pulled a bandage from storage. "Press this hard against the wound... You'll be fine."

Shari grimaced, but obeyed. "Th… thank you!"

"Everyone! Into the helicopters!" Fate shouted, pointing to the JF-701. "_Nanoha. Help me with the rear attacks."_

"Doctor, help her." Nanoha said, indicating in the general direction of the nearest helicopter, before quickly getting up and running to Fate's side.

"_There's a cluster of cannons near a rock outcropping__… we have to stop them."_

"_Alright, I understand__…" _Nanoha replied, nodding at Fate. She nodded back._ "I see them, let's go!" _

They both sped out of the bay as the helicopters began spinning up, quickly splitting up to get clear of the launch bay. Spread beneath them was a small army - a steady line of soldiers in formation, marching towards the ship; what seemed like dozens of armor-types were spread out around it; and, amidst a field of rugged boulders exposed by the impacts, a swarm of Krief soldiers manned an array of artillery pieces. Already, two of the large four-barreled weapons were turning towards them…

"_That's__… a lot of soldiers. We'll have to do this quickly."_

"_Nanoha__… can you cast Stardust Fall?"_

"_Of course__…" _Nanoha replied. "…_I'm not certain how powerful it'll be, but I can cast it." _

"_Right__… don't stress yourself. I'll handle it, just focus on keeping their attention off me." _Fate said, speeding up into the haze of smog, and away from the cluster of guns. Below, the left quad-cannon was rapidly tracking after Fate, while the other turned towards Nanoha herself…

She snapped Raising Heart under her arm, who instantly shifted to shooting mode as she took aim for the left gun… it was a simple platform, no discernible armor except a simple gun shield - she wouldn't need much power, just…

"Divine Buster!"

A bright-pink beam lashed out, smashing the weapon apart and sending soldiers and gun fragments into the air. After that, all attention went to Nanoha as Fate sped up towards the cloud cover. The other quad-gun emplacement was zeroing in on her - time to go.

"Flash Move." Raising Heart said - instantly, Nanoha's magic whirled around her, thrusting her to the side - she kept going, diving towards the rear of the ship - closer to the massive line of men filing inside, but out of the cannon's line of fire. A steady stream of shells chased her through the air, detonating in plumes of black smoke - but she was moving too quickly for their tracking to keep up. She wove through the air, changing direction erratically so they couldn't predict her motion, a huge explosions from one of the larger single guns flashed nearby - fortunately, it didn't like they could traverse quickly enough to effectively track her, but she quickly cast a Divine Shooter towards it, not pausing to see if it hit.

"Master. Additional Anti-Air Array Now Tracking…"

Nanoha glanced over - a third quad-gun was now focusing in on her. She dropped down a dozen meters, then turned over and sped in the opposite direction, **two **lines of exploding tracers following after her. She could keep dodging, though the sky was gradually filling with smoke and flying shrapnel… but if many more things started shooting at her, she'd be in trouble…

As if on cue, a large enemy armor-type broke off from the cordon, along with a block of perhaps fifty soldiers. Meanwhile, the dust clouds above were growing dark…

Just a little longer, then…

"_This is Bandit One, rotors engaged, engines online." _The helicopter pilot transmitted._ "We are Standby Ready for liftoff."_

"_Hold position. We need to clear out these cannons__…"_

Nanoha cast shooting spells at the cluster of gun emplacements as quickly as she could, trusting in Raising Heart and their homing capacities to ensure they at least came somewhat close to hitting - but she didn't need to **hit**, all she needed to do was keep them shooting at her, instead of Fate.

And, thus far, they were obliging. She wove through the firestorm, circling around towards the stern, shrapnel washing off her barrier jacket like rain - but as long as she didn't get caught in the blast itself, they couldn't do much more than slowly chip away at her barrier, and at this rate, they wouldn't be able to do that quickly enough - she detonated a cartridge and quickly fired a Divine Buster at the enemy tank as she passed by - it smashed a dent in it's front plate and twisted the weapon mounted on the front into unrecognizability, but it didn't stop… there was no time to take another shot, and she quickly turned and climbed upwards, continuing to fire shots in the general direction of the enemy. Then, suddenly, the shooting almost as one, all of the guns were turning skyward. It didn't look like she could distract them anymore… alright then - she'd take them out instead.

"Raising Heart!" She shouted, holding out her arm to aim carefully at the nearest quad-gun. "Cartridge Load! Axel Shooter!"

Four bolts shot out towards the closer gun. She switched targets, and cast the other four at the further gun. They all struck home, knocking out crewmen, knocking a barrel off one cannon, and damaging the other's mount.

The Krieg barely seemed to _notice_, more soldiers rushing in to replace their fallen comrades like nothing had happened. The guns promptly resumed their tracking…

A laser beam zipped past her, the flash of red light a bit fainter and wider than usual - but she wasn't going to bet it wasn't still dangerous. Another beam collided with her shoulder, then two more cracked through the air.

"_Fate! Could you hurry, please!?"_

"_One moment__…" _She paused, then spoke again, much quicker. _ "Nanoha, get clear!"_

Nanoha tumbled over and flew off to the docking bay, waiting just inside. Their helicopters were idling, barriers at full power, visibly glowing in the air, but they'd still acquired some dents and small bullet holes from the bombardment. The first of the quad-guns completed its rotation, and opened up with its three remaining barrels, a steady stream of tracers flying skywards…

A moment later, a gold-tinged lightning bolt erupted from the clouds, bouncing from shell to shell as it streaked down to the gun, blasting it to scrap and tossing the crew aside like ragdolls. A trail of explosions burst across the sky where the shells had been as a second bolt hammered down into one of the larger guns, then a third, then a fourth, striking with relentless accuracy; scattering Krieg among the rocks…

"_That should be sufficient__…" _Fate transmitted.

"_It just might__…" _Nanoha replied.

One definite advantage of electric-aspected magic… it had a tendency to seek out metal things all on its own, and when combined with actual guidance, it virtually never missed. Perhaps ten seconds later, all the guns in the field were in various stages of disassembly, and it was somehow even more cratered and blasted than before. The Krieg soldiers had stayed at their posts, still firing their cannons at the gap, until there was nothing left to fire. And even now, more of the enemy armor-types were moving up to plug the gap. They wouldn't get another chance…

"_Bandits, move out, now!" _Nanoha shouted. She didn't actually have the authority to make that order, but Fate didn't countermand it, and the copters responded anyways, spinning their rotors up to full speed as they backed out of the tight space one by one, as quickly as they could without crashing. The moment they exited the docking bay, each would quickly hop over the ship and speed off at low altitude, MFS at full. The enemy fired after them, but without much accuracy Nanoha followed the last one out, doing her best to shoot down any projectiles that looked threatening… but one slipped by, an anti-air missile of some sort, striking Bandit 3's rear boom - it quickly began to lose altitude, trailing smoke as it fishtailed across the sky.

"_This is Bandit 3 - we're hit! Stabilizers are damaged, trying to recover…"_

"_Don't panic! Use the main thrusters to compensate."_

"_Hold on, I'm on my way."_

"_Damn__… hold on… got it! We're leveling out… yes!"_

Fate streaked down from above, a brilliant contrail of light streaking out behind her. By herself, she couldn't stop a helicopter from crashing, but slowing its fall should be simple enough. Fortunately, she didn't need to - slowly, gradually, the helicopter leveled out, making a long turn across the sky before settling into a stable flight path, although it did seem to be moving a bit crookedly. By this point, the squad had dipped back down below the ship, using it as cover against enemy attacks.

"_Bandit 3__…" _Fate transmitted, her relief palpable._ "…What is your status?"_

"_Still alive__… I've got it under control, but power is low… I don't know if I can make it to Decryst anytime soon."_

"_Understood." _Fate said._ "Go ahead and divert to… Solen Hill."_

"_Roger. We'll report back when we arrive."_

"_Bandit Squad, go on __ahead. Nanoha and I will follow behind… ensure there are no further surprises."_

Fate flew to Nanoha's side, watching as the helicopters disappeared into the smog. Even apart from her scarred barrier jacket, she didn't look good. She seemed incredibly weary - coated in dust, floating sort of slumped in the air, and her expression haggard. Nanoha didn't expect she looked much better, but it was still upsetting to see her this way… she reached out and put her hand on Fate's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Fate shook her head. "…not really."

"Me neither." Nanoha replied. She didn't expect anyone could be in these circumstances. "But… we can't stay here. Let's go home."

"Right. First, though, we finish the mission." Fate said. She pointed in a vaguely upwards direction. "I was told to call in an orbital strike if there was any resistance."

"I see…" Nanoha said. "That's pretty extreme, though…" It was more a comment than a complaint. If there was any possibility the enemy could recreate that dimensional distortion, they needed to destroy the ship.

"Command can make the final decision." Fate replied. She paused, her brow creased in concentration for a moment… "We just need to get a bit further away to contact _Hetaconchires_."

"Let's try to get out of this dust." Nanoha said. "Come on."

They flew away, heading out to around 10 kilometers from the ship, and rising up above the pall of dust. Nanoha thought she could faintly see the dark silhouette of the enemy ship, and it definitely, if somewhat hazily, showed up on searchers. Hopefully, the enemy wouldn't be able to target them through the interference.

"Got it!" Fate said, pausing for a moment. "Hold on, I'll patch you in."

"_We've just left the enemy ship. Relay this information to Enforcer Command."_

"_Understood." _Someone aboard the Hetaconchires replied,_ "We are Standby for firing order."_

"_Not yet. I'll let them make that decision."_

"_Alright__…"_

"_Just recieved the response. Transmitting it now."_

"_Lightning. This is Anton Boyle. Your previous orders stand." _The transmission began, annoyance clear even through the distortion._ "Authorization Code: Nova-97 SEALORD. All weapons on Hetaconchires are available at your discretion - just level that ship."_

"_Understood."_ Fate said. She grit her teeth, holding Bardiche forwards. Even if it had to be to be done, having to order an orbital barrage on Mid-Childa couldn't be fun…

"Locking On." Bardiche said.

"_We have the target. Target Angelwing, four shots__… there's an AMF, but you should be able to break through…" _She hesitated, for a moment._ "Fire."_

"_Angelwing, four shots__… firing."_

"_Away."_

The next few seconds were eerily quiet, with nothing but the wind to break the silence. Nanoha looked upwards, searching the sky for the four bright streaks of light that would come hurtling down at any moment, looking something like titanic versions of a normal shooting spell wrapped in lightning, striking the ground with more collective force than half a dozen Starlight Breakers on her best day. Depending on how high _Hetaconchire's _orbit actually was - Nanoha wasn't sure, it could take anywhere from around five seconds to a minute. For now, though, nothing was happening…

"_Impact." _The _Hetaconchires_ officer said._ "Standby for BDA, but from here, it looks like the whole stern is collapsing…"_

Nothing continued to happen. Angelwing shots moved quickly, so she could have missed them, but an orbital strike wasn't something you just _didn't notice._ Had they somehow missed badly enough the shots didn't hit anywhere near them? Had they been harmlessly absorbed by the enemy's strange anti-magic barrier? But neither explanation explained why _Hetaconchires_ thought they'd succeeded.

"_Negative… I can't see anything." _Fate replied, seeming just as confused.

"_Say again, Lightning__… no damage?" _The Fleet officer asked. _"What stopped it, the AMF?"_

"_No__… it didn't even seem to have hit."_

"_That can't be possible. We have the target on viewscreen, the shot just hit__…" _The officer said, his voice increasing fast with each sentence._ "…every sensor we've got confirms…"_

It hadn't hit the target. It couldn't have. But if Hetaconchires had fired, then… where **did**it hit?

"_I didn't see an impact at all__… coordinates 48.105 West, 138.745 North?" _Fate asked.

"_Yes, the coordinates are right!" _The officer snapped back._ "Every sensor we've got shows impact…"_

"_Could something be wrong with your sensors?"_

"_That's a very specific error__…" _The officer said._ "I mean, I __**see**__ the enemy on my screen, and the damage doesn't look like a glitch… Could they crack us?"_

"_I don't think so__…" _Fate said.

"_This is__… Lightning A-1." _Nanoha interjected. _"I agree, the technology I saw in there didn't seem sophisticated enough."_

"_Well, I __**know **__we fired… where did those shots go?"_

"_I don't know__…" _Nanoha replied._ "But it wasn't around here."_

"_Damn__… well, they probably wouldn't have been locked on to anything, so they'll just fly off into space. Or maybe land in the ocean…" _The officer said, though he sounded more hopeful than confident. _"We can fire again, if you wish, but__…"_

"_No. We can't just launch naval scale weapons without knowing for certain where they're landing."_

"_Probably a good idea. Captain wants to run a diagnostic either way, possibly reboot the system. You c__an ask Anton Boyle if you want, but…"_

"…_You couldn't respond in any event."_

"_Basically. We'll work something out for targeting once we regain communication."_

"_Try to find out what happened. For now__…" _Fate replied. _"Transmission Ends."_

Nanoha sighed. "There's nothing more we can do here."

"Let's head to Decryst." Fate said "Figure everything out when we get there."

"Yeah…"

Fate turned and flew off in the direction of Decryst. Nanoha spared one last look into the dust cloud before following after her.

Northern District, City of Harpin's Curve

South-Central Mid Childa, 464 Kilometers south of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar, 1042 Hours

Two cartridges detonated as Subaru tightened her fist. A sphere of light began to gather in front of her, between the runes she'd summoned...

"Divine..." The strange walking machine halted, and gradually began to turn. The light shone like a beacon now - there was no way the Orks hadn't noticed. Subaru didn't care - she didn't feel like even attempting subtlety.. Sure enough, a moment later projectiles began raining through the office walls.

"Buster!" Subaru shouted, the incantation, slamming her fist into the sphere of light. The beam of energy surged forward, smashing through the side of the walker. She didn't bother checking whether or not it had been destroyed before leaping down from the overhang, sliding up beneath the gigantic machine, and punching its leg joint as hard as she could - she thought she'd broken something, so she used the momentum of that strike to spin left, and Mach Caliber accelerated her away, towards the nearest Ork.

"Dere he is! Get 'im!"

Bullets went everywhere - some were shooting at the office where she had been, while zipped past - or impacted heavily against her barrier jacket - as the Orks swarmed in. Subaru rapidly closed on her target, who roared, shaking his axe as he charged - but she was moving much more quickly, and crashed her fist into his chest with all her momentum before he could properly react- he flew away, tumbling over as Subaru followed up with a second strike to the head. A split second later, a round thudded into the back of her neck - her barrier stopped it, but still... she quickly turned, as another Ork rushed up from behind, bellowing as he swung a serrated blade as long as her whole arm. She caught it in the armored palm of her right hand, and shoved the sword aside to deliver a snap kick to the chin. She pulled back her fist to follow up, but the Ork recovered quicker than she expected, slashing with the huge knife - it scraped across her left leg, barely breaking the skin through Subaru's barrier jacket. Her own uppercut threw him just a bit into the air - just as the Ork with the big gun turned towards her, realizing no one was in the office. More bullets flew around her - the Ork she'd just been fighting's right arm just... exploded - and something struck her right shoulder with a sharp sting.

Her barrier was weakening - she had to get out of the way. She turned left, and skated into the stacks. The Ork's fire chased after her, one of the crates exploding from a critical containment breach that collapsed the whole end of the stack in an avalanche of falling crates and screeching metal - they couldn't follow her very easily. She checked her shoulder - the scorched and torn fabric of her barrier jacket was stained red, and there was a sharp pain when she tried to move her arm too much... it hurt, but she'd live. She could worry about treating it later - her body would stop the bleeding and pain on its own, but she paused for a moment to reload her cartridges - she was down to one, if she'd counted right - and hopefully restore some of her barrier.

"Mach Caliber." Subaru said

_"Barrier At Fifty-One Percent and Rising. The Orks Are Pursuing. Walker-Type And Two Others... Knockdown."_

_"We have to knockdown the one with that big gun... any ideas?"_

_"He Does Not Seem To Be Moving Into The Stacks. Designating." _Mach Caliber replied. _"Outflank Remaining Forces And Engage. Alternatively, Fall Back And Eliminate With Bombardment."_

The first option was basically what she was already thinking of, although she wasn't sure she could win a straight fight, and there was always a chance they'd find... her charges. She had mana to spare for another Divine Buster, so that wasn't a terrible option... but it'd destroy a lot of crates - which might set off a chain reaction and blow up the building, or something... or it might just attract more attention.

Attract attention...

_"I've got an idea. We still have the second D-Cartridge, right?"_

_"Correct."_

_"Can you access the... um... inventory for this warehouse?"_

_"I Believe So. What Are You Looking For?"_

_"Something that explodes." _Subaru replied.

_"I See... _An indicator flashed in Subaru's vision. _"A Container Full Of Industrial Decontaminants_

_. Highly Unstable."_

_"Good enough, I guess. Roller Inactive Mode.."_ Subaru said. She had a plan now, of sorts. All she had to do was do it - the mental conversation hadn't taken as long as a verbal one, but the Orks had to be closing in. She switched to infrared, and quickly looked around - just in time, an Ork was about to round the corner ahead. She rushed ran forwards to meet him, grabbing a smaller - but still heavy - crate off the shelf as she went by. As he began to round the corner, he passed by, raising his gun as he saw her - and Subaru spun, hurling the crate at him with both hands. It fell open somehow, spewing stuffed bears as it sailed through the air, but Subaru didn't stay long enough to see if it connected, sprinting down the passageway - although the deep incomprehensible curse bellowed after her suggested it at least came close. She took cover between aisles, waiting for the Orks to close in before hurrying off down another corridor. Her boots made a very loud clinking against the concrete floor, so hopefully they could keep track of her. As long as she stayed ahead of them, she could basically lead them to the other side this way...

"Quit runnin and fight, humie!" One of the Orks shouted, taking a couple shots at her. She sprinted down a few more hallways, more bullets and an incoherent shout of rage chasing her.

She sprinted further on to the solvent crate, hoping she'd have enough time - and soon, she found it, sitting on the lowest level of the rack. Heavy footsteps pounded nearby... She opened the storage system, rapidly stacking boxes of whatever this was next to the shelf's support. They were getting close now… She placed the D-cartridge on the back of the crate...

"I'LL SKRAG YA, GIT!"

Mach Caliber shouted a warning, a moment too late. Subaru looked up just in time to see one of the Orks barreling towards her, shaking a large axe trailing what looked like locks of hair behind it. She immediately raised her arms, summoning a barrier - but not quite quickly enough. He ran in close, but he didn't use the axe - instead, he just slammed his huge, spiked boot into her chest.

It didn't feel all that much better. She flew backwards, slamming into the nearby shelf. The Ork pressed in, stomping down on top of her - once, twice… even through her Barrier Jacket, it hurt like hell, and knocked the breath out of her for a moment… then, the Ork pressed down on her, digging the cleats into her skin… she could barely move - she was strong, but it had to weigh around 300 kilos, and had the advantage of leverage… he raised his axe for the killing blow…

Subaru could still move her legs well enough - she booted him in the crotch, but only seemed to get angrier, recovering in an instant and swinging the axe down at her - she raised her arm to block, but a moment too late - the jagged edge bit into her chest - shallow, thanks to her barrier, (and armor) but too close. Immediately, the Ork drew the weapon back and struck again - her hand already in position, Subaru caught it, forcing the blade away - growling, the Ork bore down on her, close enough that its rotten breath was nauseating… summoning all her strength, physical and magical, she slammed her heel into his left knee - the leg that wasn't on top of her - unlike the groin shot, **that **had an effect.

With a bestial roar, he reared back, stepping off her long enough for Subaru to roll out from under him and into a crouch. He swung his axe at her neck, and she quickly leaned backwards to avoid it - luckily, she was flexible enough, the weapon skimming just over her nose… and through the one of the shelf supports. Slowly, with a groan of tearing metal, it started to fall. Subaru leapt back as much as she could from her crouching position, and quickly crawled away, one box smashing down decimeters from her feet. The Ork wasn't so fast - glaring up and yelling, more angry than concerned as a dozen crates piled down on him. Hopefully it wouldn't prevent the charge from going off…

"_The D-Cartridge__…"_

"_In place." _Mach Caliber replied.

Subaru nodded. Weapons fire boomed out, probably aimed in her general direction. The rest of the Orks would certainly have heard that…

A moment later, the Ork's fist burst out of the pile of crates.

"Time to go…"Subaru said, sprinting towards the nearest side wall. Mach Caliber switched to Roller Mode mid-step, and she sped onwards, a handful of projectiles rattling through the stacks around her as she leapt into the air.

She punched into the wall with full force as she flew, smashing through the corrugated metal into the open city beyond. She immediately cast a Wing Road, catching herself in midair and riding it in an arc back to the front of the building. She could see the windows she'd looked out of as the Orks were arriving, Jone and Teras and whatshisname should be just behind it, but she couldn't really get them out without breaking through the wall… which would certainly attract attention, and she didn't trust the office walls to block a single enemy bullet…

"Mach Caliber…" Subaru whispered "If I detonate now, will they be hurt?"

"Uncertain. Result Dependent On Warehouse Contents. Rough Estimate: 5% Chance."

That was a small chance, but… she'd seen enough people die today, and…

She shook her head. If she delayed any more, they would **all **die. She couldn't be the type of person to hesitate - she **wasn't** the type of person to hesitate.

"Detonate."

"_Detonating." _Mach Caliber transmitted, a slow, rumbling explosion rippling out from the center of the warehouse. The ground shook as crates arced into the air, one of them exploding in a brilliant white flash as its storage system collapsed. The warehouse was already burning fiercely, and the flames were spreading… but it hadn't reached this side of the warehouse. ** That** would certainly be a distraction… assuming any Orks survived… actually, come to think about, every Ork in the city would see that.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…

She switched to exographic to check that no one was too close to the wall, and broke through. Jone and Teras both leapt up in surprise at her sudden appearance, but they otherwise looked unharmed. Her plan was working! They still needed to get out of the city, but it was working!

"What was that?!" Jone asked. "What's happening?"

"I might have… blown stuff up?" Subaru replied. "Cmon, we have to get out of here before more Orks come to investigate."

She dispelled the Wing Road she'd taken to the front of the warehouse, and summoned a new one leading straight down. She picked up the husband, checking to make sure he was still stable.

"Is this… safe?" Teras asked, hesitating to step onto the Wing Road. "I guess it's some kind of barrier…"

"Yeah, pretty much. Don't worry, though, it's solid as a rock."

He hesitantly stepped onto the Wing Road, then quickly ran down as he realized it was, in fact, solid. Jone followed closely after. "We've gotta to stay off the main roads…" Subaru said. She wasn't really familiar with this part of the city, but first, they had to get out of the immediate area. She started leading the group away from the burning warehouse, planning to hopefully make it a bit of the way north along one of the nearby rows of warehouses. The rest of the way, she didn't really know what she'd do, but Mach Caliber quickly found the maps and transmitted them to her datapathic implants. It was too risky to take the main roads… so they'd follow the side streets through the unpopulated portions of the factory districts.

That… didn't last very long. Maybe a minute later, another group of Orks passed by - fortunately, they didn't notice Subaru's group hiding behind a nearby… tank thing - they seemed to be heading towards the warehouse, maybe they were too preoccupied. But, as they kept moving into the factory district, there just seemed to be more and more of them - first a few roaming groups of five or so, and a few alone or in pairs - Mach Caliber could lead them around the groups, and she could beat the loners, so it wasn't really terrible at first - then, they started seeing larger bunches - clusters of fifteen, twenty, thirty Ork signatures, and there were more of them, plus a erratic fuzz of individual contacts. Most of the Orks were inside buildings, but there were still a lot moving around. They were nearly caught by a large group of Orks rapidly exiting an annex office, and had to sprint nearly a block to the nearest adequate concealment. Alone, she could fight them - but it too was much of a risk to the others.

"_This was supposed to get us __**out**__ of danger…"_

"_This Is Best Available. All Possible Routes Require Hosti__le Contact."_

"_Crap__… If we get in a fight, I'm not… not sure I can protect Jone and Teras. Are you certain?"_

"_Ninety-Eight Percent Confidence. Apologies."_

"_If we just stay here__… maybe go back to Karol's house?"_

"_General Southwards Ork Movement. Projection__s… Poor." _Mach Caliber replied, bringing up a monitor to display the situation. There weren't just a lot of Orks to their **North **anymore - they'd been spreading out to the south, leaving Subaru's group surrounded. There were enough that whether they stayed here, moved on, or headed back towards the city, they'd be found. And, from what they'd seen already once they were found, even by a relatively small group, the others would probably hear the fight and investigate…

Actually, maybe there was a chance… she noted an especially large group of Orks near a massive industrial complex.

"_I think__… we can't get away as a group, but maybe… if I go here, keep them busy… they might be able to get away while the Orks are distracted."_

"_That Plan Seems Flawed. You Must Rendezvous With Captain Halstadt __**Alive**__."_

It was pretty dangerous, yeah… but there didn't seem to be any other choice.

"_I'm not trying to die. I have a better chance of getting out by myself than all of us together."_

"_The __Injured Civilian?"_

"_Maybe they can wait here__… or he might wake up… I __**know **__it's not a good idea, but it's all I have…"_

"_The Most Favorable Option Is To Leave Alone." _Mach Caliber noted. That was pretty obvious, yeah, but it wasn't a real option.

"_Yeah, but__… there has to be some…" _Subaru began. If they couldn't go through the city, then maybe they could go _over _it? Wing Road could go pretty high, after all, maybe if they just climbed to a few hundred meters or so…

"_What about Wing Road? We could just wa__lk overhead." _She continued_. _

"_Perhaps." _Mach Caliber said. _"Certain To Reveal Our Position, However."_

That was… pretty obvious, but if they got out fast enough, it wouldn't be a problem. Though… the others would probably have to climb at a pretty shallow angle, so it'd take a while actually climb it. it'd probably work… but it'd be really obvious, too. The Orks might follow them, or hit them with a lucky shot from below… or, actually, now that she thought about, just shoot at them enough to **break **the Wing Road - it was a barrier, after all, and a pretty weak one - it couldn't take that much punishment before it shattered. One more useless idea… they couldn't stay, they couldn't leave on the surface, they couldn't leave in the air…

That was when she remembered - Harpin's Curve wasn't a coastal city like Clanagan, but there were apparently still floods, or something, since there were more than a few storm drains around town - nothing like the caverns at the capital, but still… if they couldn't go over the town, maybe they could go **under.**

"I've got another idea." She said out loud, skating over the nearest window.

"Master?" Mach Caliber asked.

Subaru looked up and down the street - sure enough, a small entrance to the drains was there at the edge of the walkway, covered to make sure no one lost anything in it - but there was a small access hatch on top of it… they could get in easily enough.

"_I __was thinking… maybe we could use the drains. Get around without being seen? Maybe?"_

"_Possible." _Mach Caliber replied, after a moment. _"Searchers Detect 70% fewer Ork reactions. Uncertain If No Contacts Will Be Present. It Appears To Be Our Best Optio__n. Apologies - I Did Not Consider It Before."_

"_S'okay, you can't__… can't know everything." _Subaru said. She couldn't really blame anyone for making mistakes…_ "Besides… we've got it now."_

"_Correct." _Mach Caliber said._ "…There Is A Gap In Enemy Presence. We Should Move."_

"Uh… Jone. I think I know how we can get out of here."

"R - really? How?"

"Well, there are all these runoff drains… if we take those, we should be able to get to the park."

"The sewer… ah, well, if it gets us out…"

"Right! Wait here a bit, I'll open it up…" Subaru replied. She quickly skated over to the drain, and opened the hatch - it was locked, of course, but that didn't last very long. There was no sign of Orks in the vicinity, aside from the distant pounding of mass weapons… wasn't the battle supposed to be over?

Anyways, she called the others over, and went back to pick up Jone's husband, switched to Roller Inactive, carefully climbed down the ladder. Smooth, damp concrete tunnels stretched out in either direction, too narrow for Subaru to stand fully, and pitch black beyond a few meters.

"_Unable To Access System Map." _Mach Caliber noted._ "However, It Corresponds With Street Layout."_

"_That'll work." _Subaru replied. She called up the street map they'd been using earlier, and activated Revolver Knuckle's illuminator. The fastest would be a pretty much straight one, so at least that was simple…

"Alright, everybody… let's go." She said, leading off into the darkness.

The underground trip was mercifully boring. They could sometimes glimpse Orks on the roads at the actual drains, but they were never noticed - and they'd have never fit into the pipes anyways. The route had collapsed, been blocked off, or just never existed in some places, so they'd had to backtrack a bit, but it wasn't a major problem.

Ten-something cramped and wet minutes later, they had finally reached Piere Manufacturing Park, with only another Subaru sidled up to the drain, and peered out. A few fires smoldered nearby, several trees were uprooted, and the central statue broken… off to the side, someone was talking…

"Looksit, dis one got anuva of those gubbins… 'elp me yank it." That someone said. The voice seemed too high-pitched to be an Ork…

"Yank it yerself! Boss says to get some shootas… there ain't no shootas here. Ain't a shoota in this stupid lot…" Another voice said. There was no recognizable reaction or heat signature, but the sound was clearly coming from somewhere off to the side.

"But 'deze bits sparky!"

"There's someone here…" Subaru said. "I'll check."

She tore the bars off the drain entrance and crawled through - there was just enough room to squeeze past. Two of the small green creatures were clambering over a nearby car, apparently trying to strip it of parts. They yelped in surprise, scrambling off the car. One fired his pistol at her, the shot only bouncing off her barrier jacket. Subaru quickly pulled her legs through the gap, and rose…

"Humies innit s'posed to-" the gun-critter began. He didn't quite finish the sentence - in an instant, Subaru was upon them, ducking low to strike the first, then leaping over the car after the other…

"No Additional Reactions." Mach Caliber said.

Sure enough, there was nothing else alive in the park… but it was clear that the battle had passed through here. Craters marred the sides of nearby buildings, several cars had been abandoned in the road - then torn apart or overturned, and a group of mages were slumped nearby, laying in a pool of blood. More bodies were scattered about; some orks, some human - a few more TSAB, but mostly civilians. The sound of weapons fire continued to echo in the distance… though she hadn't heard much in the way of magic attacks… that couldn't be a good sign…

"I think it's clear." She called out, lifting the access cover off the storm drain, and helping the others out. They all moved over to the shelter of a nearby bench, which, admittedly, didn't offer much protection. Dozens of columns of smoke rose around them - it looked almost like half the city was on fire. One of the largest blazes seemed to be centered on the warehouse she'd exploded.

Oops…

There was nothing she could do now about any of the fires… or the Orks. All she could do was watch and wait while her adopted home disintegrated before her…

It wasn't very fun.

A few minutes later, Subaru heard a low growling off in the distance, getting closer quickly… at least it was a distraction.

"What is that?" Jone whispered.

"I don't know…" Subaru replied. "Stay down."

However, she stood up, trying to locate the source of the sound… it seemed to be coming from down one the larger roads… A moment later, she spotted the source - a vehicle, barreling in from one of the side streets, black smoke billowing from it. As it grew closer, she got a better look - it was some kind of small truck, with a what looked like a plow make of spikes at the front. It had to be some kind of Ork vehicle… she moved out to confront it, shifting into a fighting stance…

Something seemed off, though. It had a weapon up top, but no one to fire it… as it approached, it veered off, screeching to a halt alongside her. Up close, it was even stranger that it had looked before - a high cab with a huge, knobby tires, a cargo bed that almost seemed to small for its considerable size, plates of metal crudely fastened to every available surface, a sharpened snowplow with an array of spikes attached, and huge air intake sticking out over it. It made a loud thunk-thunk sound as it rocked back and forth, and the door flung, open, revealing…

"Need a ride?" Emelia shouted, looking down at her from the vehicle's high steel bench seat, her device laid next to hear, looking comically small as she stretched to operate the giant metal-studded steering wheel and a strange array of pedals. Doctor Ryker sat in the seat opposite her, looking slightly pale.

"What is…"

"The Orks were kind enough to lend me a vehicle. You said you have civilians with you?"

"Three… one too injured to walk." Subaru replied. Something in the vehicle seemed to explode, and a blast of smoke and flame billowed out of the front compartment. "Are you sure this thing is… safe?"

"Not remotely… hasn't exploded yet, though."

"Yet…" Ryker noted ominously.

"It'll get us out of the city, at least. Some genius set off a bomb in one of the warehouses… now the whole district is on fire, and the Orks are swarming towards it…"

"Eheh… well… that might have been me." Subaru replied, trying not to look too embarrassed. "… we should probably go."

"Oh." Emelia said. "…Anyways, yes, we should probably go. Climb on."

Subaru nodded, and gestured to the others. Seeing that the occupants of the truck hadn't attacked yet, Teras had already stepped out from behind the bench, and Jone followed after him. Subaru quickly helped them all into the back of the truck, then climbed in after.

"_Ready when you are."_ Emelia transmitted.

"Hold on, guys." Subaru warned. There was nothing approaching restraints in the back of the vehicle, so they ducked down and desperately held on to the edges. Hesitantly, she knocked on the back of the cab… _"Go."_

The vehicle made another 'bang' sound and shook, the engine roaring for a second before they suddenly sped away - despite their precautions, the others promptly toppled over into the bed, struggling to recover… Less than a minute into the trip, Subaru felt somewhat uncomfortable. As they moved out into the edge of the suburbs, she'd decided that this was quite possibly the worst vehicle ever. An assortment of pipes billowed smoke directly into their faces, there was nothing but a rusted metal slab for seats, the engine was deafeningly low, and despite traveling relatively slowly, the wind whipped furiously around the open bed and the truck bucked violently when it passed over the smallest root or gap. Teras was puking over the side - at least mostly over the side - but they were out of the city. No one said anything, but she… she wasn't happy to see it go. Her comrades, her new home, her job… she had to leave all of that behind. There had to be tens of thousands of people left in there with all the Orks… and the fires, and the broken buildings, and the power outages, and the lack of food or water - one of the problems with being a Rescue Officer was learning just how bad things could get.

She knew she had to leave. There was no way one person, even a Combat Cyborg, could rescue an entire city, or defeat an entire army of monsters. But, she'd done the best she could… even if it wasn't that much, it was still - she looked over at Mrs. Jone - it was still something.

She wiped her eyes dry for a moment. Besides - she'd be back. After all, she was a Mage - anyone who threatened the citizens would have to be…

Then, Subaru spotted something moving behind them - it was coming closer, and she quickly recognized it as some kind of vehicle… actually, several, motorcycles of sorts - but they were bigger than any motorcycle she'd ever seen, a leather-clad Ork warrior riding each one.

"Get down!" Subaru said, nudging the others to stay inside the bed. Maybe if they weren't seen, the Orks would assume the truck was still one of their own - they hadn't seemed too bright… Destroying would come later, when the civilians weren't in danger.

"_There's a bunch of Orks on bikes here! I think if…"_

At that point, the Orks opened fire, impacts smashing into the ground around the truck. The motorcycles veered from side to side, spreading out. Their own vehicle seemed to abruptly accelerate, but the bikes were still gaining ground on them.

"_Nevermind." _Subaru finished. Looked like that bit was coming now after all.

"_Oh, this is great__…" _Emelia replied. _"I don't think we can outrun them__…"_

"_No__…" _Subaru transmitted. They weren't going to just go away, and she didn't think their own vehicle was fast or agile enough to escape, and if they fought, the civilians would be defenseless - unless…

"_I'm going to distract them." _She said. _"Get out of here."_

"_Wait, what are you planning?" _Emelia asked. _"Don't__…"_

Subaru had already crawled to the back of the truck-bed. _"I can fight them." _She leapt over the rear bed, landing in a crouch just behind the truck. She quickly turned her heels, a plume of dirt arcing into the air as she slowed down. A second after she landed, a wave of impacts tore craters around her - she quickly cast a barrier, several more projectiles impacting against it.

"Gear Second."Mach Caliber said - top speed on this kind of ground was impossible, but Subaru needed all she could get… she sped off to intercept the Ork furthest to the right, tearing a path through the grass. He had already begun to turn, facing his bike towards Subaru.

"I won't let you touch them!" She shouted.

"_Damnit, you're the one I'm supposed to be rescuing!" _Emelia transmitted.

The Ork in front of her roared, barely audible over the sound of engines, then opened fire with the pair of huge guns attached to the front of his motorcycle - plumes of dirt scarred the ground around her, bits of shrapnel glancing off her Barrier Jacket, but luckily, their accuracy with this kind of weapon wasn't any better than before.

"If you want to fight…" Subaru continued, veering off to the side, weaving through the trees - she was bouncing wildly over the rough ground, but he could only hit what his bike was facing, so heading through the underbrush was worth it… in the distance, the other two Orks were firing on the Truck - Emelia was obviously doing her best to evade, but was obviously restricted by the forest, and a steady stream of impacts pinged onto its hull… no time to waste.

The Ork careened about, a hailstorm of projectiles tearing trees to pieces as he futilely tried to get her in his sights… Subaru ducked as she quickly crossed in front of him, then spun and rocketed off back towards him.

"Then come and get me!" Subaru shouted.

"_This stuff is what I'm good at!"_ She transmitted, punching the Ork as she sped by. _"I'll be fine!"_

The remaining Orks broke off their attack on the truck, heading straight for her, whooping over the roar of the engines as they closed in. Meanwhile, the Ork she'd just hit wobbled, spun out… and recovered…

'_I hope'_ she thought. First things first - get out of the line of fire. Evade, Manuever, Overwhelm, that was how it went, right? She'd go over them… she arced a Wing Road upwards, over the Ork's heads… if this worked…

The moment Mach Caliber's wheels hit the bridge, she sped upwards, the Orks quickly closing and opening fire in their typical wide cone… but even they couldn't miss this entirely, and the barrier shuddered with the impacts… her target wasn't far in front… she checked behind her, at the first Ork - yep, he'd taken the bait, and was currently chasing her up the 'Road… just a moment more…

The Wing Road suffered one too many hits, and she lost control of the spell - too soon. The bridge 'cracked' and shattered - Subaru quickly leapt off, but she was still in front of the Orks, giving them a clear line of fire…

"Revolver!" She shouted as quickly as she could manage. "Shoot!"

The shockwave put the two riders off balance just long enough - she veered toward the one of the left, preparing to strike…

This time, she aimed low, punching through a hopefully-important looking strut on the motorcycle - she zipped past, and quickly skidded about… the left (now right) Ork quickly lost control, tumbling into the ground, while the one from before was already down - apparently being dropped out of the air did the trick. The last, however…

"_We've got some more company__…" _Emelia said. _"Another group, catching up quick__…"_

Not good… she had to move quickly, but she couldn't just turn away… "Cartridge Load!"

Subaru sped forwards on the last Ork, still spinning about, a hurricane of shells flying in every direction - her Barrier Jacket blocked one over her chest, knocking the breath out of her - but she closed in, slamming the last Ork with an uppercut that sent him flying out of his bike… she leapt into the air after him, and slammed her boots into his chest. He went flying into the ground, and she flipped around to land on her feet, heading in the opposite direction.

She was almost surprised that actually worked… _"Hold on__… I'm coming."_ She transmitted, setting off towards the truck.

At that moment, a rocket veered erratically through the air, slamming into a tree near the truck. She scanned the area, and quickly identified a new pair of motorcycles closing in from the side - with a another two motorcycles and some kind of large motorized three wheeled sled carrying the missile launcher further behind… if she went after the two closing in, it'd leave her exposed to the others, but if she chased those, the first pair would be free to attack the truck…

It was obvious what she had to do… wait, maybe she could at least reduce the threat… it would be mana-intensive, but she wouldn't hesitate, and there couldn't be many more left over…

She slowed down a bit, enough so she could aim somewhat effectively and wasn't spending too much mana, focusing in on the tricycle. She began concentrating mana…

"Mach Caliber… Cartridge Load… Barrel Lock…" She incanted, more energy gathering at her palms… she noticed the missile gunner aiming for her - no time to spare…

"DIVINE BUSTER!"

Subaru punched the sphere, the beam thundering over the grounds to hit the rear of the cart - which was enough to send it spiraling into the air as it disintegrated. Meanwhile, a missile was drifting somewhat lazily in her own direction…

"Gear… Excellion! Wing Road!" She shouted. "Activation Serial 0-04, Code B-982…" She added to herself, warmth filling her chest as energy flooded through her body. She'd need every advantage she could get, and with the bridge underneath instead of rough dirt, she could manage…

"Maximum Power!"

"Yes Sir!" Mach Caliber said - instantly, Subaru accelerated, speeding along the glowing path in front of her… she moved to pass in **front **of the truck, so she could attack from a different angle… hopefully. Meanwhile, the truck's own weapon opened fire on the approaching Orks - manned by Doctor Ryker, apparently - though swift return fire sent him ducking back towards the cabin… probably not going to be terribly effective…

Subaru arced in front of their truck, careful to dispel the Wing Road behind her… the air thundered around her as she approached top speed, banking her path into the air to avoid slowing down… something flew off the back of the truck, though she couldn't identify

"_New Reactions Incoming." _Mach Caliber announced. _"Approximately Eleven, One Vehicle South__… Six Northeast… Approximately Five-Hundred Eighty West…"_

**How **many? That was practically battalion-strength… and right in their path, if she remembered her directions right. It didn't seem right… at the moment, however…

She zeroed on the Ork on the right, as he caught up with the truck… he was already half-standing, steering with his feet, and leapt aboard the moment he got close enough, firing his pistol at Ryker. Simultaneously, too fast to do anything, he casually scooped up Teras, and threw him over the side. Subaru shifted directions, now aiming for Teras as he flew through the air… she slowed down, working with Mach Caliber to match speed at the last moment… praying not to miss - and caught him. The boy emitted an 'oof' sound and lay still in her arms, unconscious. She spun, heading back towards the truck… she couldn't fight carrying him, and she couldn't drop him, but she didn't know what else to…

The Ork was still on the truck, climbing up the turret. He pulled some cylindrical object from his vest, bit it for some reason… and a shooting spell hit him in the center of his eyes, the stick spinning into the bed as he stumbled backwards. Ryker emerged from the cockpit, gripped the truck's weapon, and fired into the Ork - blood and flesh fountained from his chest, as he roared, raising his pistol. A moment later, with what seemed like more holes than Ork in him, he tumbled off, only to be run over.

"_Western Contact Cluster__… AVS Confirmed As Elements Of 1038th Aerial Battalion." _Mach Caliber explained.

That was a real relief… not only were they not almost certainly dead, but they were almost away, then - nothing was going to touch them under the shadow of an Aerial Forces battalion. All they had to do was survive the next few seconds.

Doctor Ryker shouted something, raising his fist into the air, turning to fire at a _second _truck, this one carrying a large group of Orks. Subaru caught up with their truck, carefully setting Teras down next to his teary-eyed mother, before turning off towards the second bike… quickly gaining speed before smashing her fist into his chest, sending him flying away to crash into a nearby tree.

"_Damnit__… We've got another like this truck on the left… focus on the bikes! There's a huge group coming in, but it looks like friendlies. I'm heading straight for them."_

"_Right__… if you can…"_

The no less than eight bikes pursuing directly after them were now closing in, making an erratic path through the trees. Subaru gritted her teeth, accelerating straight towards them. She prepared a shield…

In under a second, a dozen shooting spells slammed down amongst the Orks, followed by several more. Two of the bikes fell, then a third… the rest turned, and started driving away, heading for a distant gully. Off to the right, the other truck was following after them… two seconds later, a bombardment spell pierced through its cabin - it ran out of control, coming to rest in a ditch, on fire as Orks piled out of it…

"_Of course! It's the 1038th!" _Emelia exclaimed. _"About time they showed up!"_

"_Yeah. Nice entrance, too!" _Subaru replied.

She deactivated the various systems she'd turned on as she moved back to the truck - up above, through the treetops, she could just make out the trails of flying mages… although what they could do, she wasn't sure - the city was already lost… she'd made it out, if only because she'd been forced to leave. As for everyone else, the last she'd heard, the civilians were being evacuated at the rail station, and the armed forces were… scattered. Whether anyone had actually gotten out, she didn't know - she sort of felt she should be at the station now, but… at least she'd managed to help Jone, Teras… and Karol, for that matter. Not a total loss…

She climbed into the back of the truck as they trundled on. Teras was already conscious again - it was just a bit of whiplash, probably… he'd be okay - at least until they got to a hospital. Jone immediately stumbled over and grabbed him, collapsing back into the jostling bed. Subaru sat down opposite from them and tried to catch her breath, hands on her knees.

"_Where are we going, anyways?_" Subaru asked.

"_Fort Foevir, probably__… either that, or head to Maelend and take a helicopter north."_

Teras muttered about not wanting to go to bed yet.

"_We should probably get to a hospital soon__…"_

"_Right. Maeland, __then…" _Emelia said. _"We'll drop them off to join the rest of the evacuees__…"_

"_I guess that's good__…" _Subaru replied. _"How long will it take?"_

"_Honestly, I have no idea__… I'm not sure this thing even __**has**__ a speedometer… but it shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes!"_

"_Great. If I have to leave, might as well do it quickly."_

"_We're not leaving forever." _Emelia said.

"_I know." _Subaru replied. _"That's why I want to leave as quickly as possible__… I'm ready to stop this."_

- 92 -


	10. Chapter 5 Preparations & Escapes, Part 3

Author's Note: Wow, that took... forever. Sorry, guys, both for the wait and the relatively... unexiciting... result.

However! I have a blog now, at basedeltazero dot dreamwidth dot org. It has a fair bit of commentary and technical stuff there. More will be posted from time to time, depending on interest...

Capital Defense Force Supreme Commander's Office, Ground Forces Command Center

Central Mid-Childa, Clanagan, Capital City of Mid-Childa

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1044 Hours

"Our information indicates that the aliens have… neutralized… most of the 283rd battalion. We lost all contact with battalion command after their final report, at 1035 hours. The 1038th has gone ahead and engaged the enemy unilaterally, however, and we have been able to successfully regain a foothold in the city. How long it will last remains to be seen."

That kind of news was… not really surprising. The 283rd had been outnumbered at least 3 to 1 - total victory was a long shot at best. Still, General Laito hadn't expected what had actually been reported - their defensive position near the bridgehead had turned against them, with the 'Orks' heedlessly launching a head on-attack on both sides of the river. Apparently, some enemy soldiers had broken through the western wing, and then swept around and cut off the eastern wing. In close combat, the enemy completely shattered their forces. The rest of the unit - no more than a few scattered remnants, really - fell back to the city, where they tried to delay the aliens, to no avail. Eventually, battered and not wanting to fight amongst the civilian dwellings, they surrendered.

"And nothing new from any of the other authorities." Laito asked.

"No, sir. Just the last message from the station. It's possible they were attacked."

It was more than a setback - it was a humiliation. In the whole history of the TSAB military, no battalion sized unit had ever actually surrendered in its entirety. Then again, no invader had ever set foot on a capital world before, either. That, however, wasn't the worst problem. The Orks apparently weren't too familiar with the concept of surrender, as they'd celebrated their victory by killing or destroying everything in sight. Half the city was on fire, people were being massacred in the streets… the SRS and local authorities had started evacuating people from the linear rail station, but only one train had gone out before all contact was lost. Prospects… seemed grim.

"Probable, even." Laito repeated, opening up a channel to the 1038th. "Captain Terreco, can you give us a report of the situation on the ground. What is the status of the 283rd and the evacuation effort?"

"_Sir! Yes sir! We haven't managed to establish contact with the garrison either… There's still fighting all around the city, so it looks like the reports of surrender may have been a bit exaggerated - we've been meeting up with 283rd mages fighting back as individuals or small units but… there's no sign of any chain of command above section level. As for the station… it seems that some remnants organized a resistance there, but… they were overrun just before we got here… the enemy opened fire on the crowd with high-caliber mass weapons. With that kind of power in a confined space, casualties were… extreme. We're looking at least two thousand dead. But that's probably a small fraction of the total…"_

It was almost certain to be a small fraction of the overall deaths in the invasion. All told, it had to be approaching a hundred thousand now - though there was no way for anyone to get close and confirm even an approximate count - and even then, it would be a long time before anyone could come up with the correct toll. The number of refugees and wounded were even harder to count. Special Rescue Service and the like were doing their best to accommodate all of them, but there was only so much space that could be readily found. He would have to advise a general evacuation of the White Sea/Foevir region as well, when the question came up, and that would stretch their already limited capacity. Hospitals were already crowded with the injured - and sick. As grim as his task was, at least he wasn't responsible for that.

"What of the military situation?" He asked.

"_Yes sir… the enemy forces were widely dispersed throughout the city when we arrived… we've swept south to the terminal, engaging them in small-scale swarming attacks. They're too disorganized to put up much of a fight, but it seems they're too heavily entrenched in the industrial district, or they've managed to rally somehow… we're currently occupying the southwestern zone just below the factories… we're waiting for ground forces to clear them out street by street."_

"Understood. We'll look into it."

It was Gen. Moncure who was responsible for the Mobile Defense Division, and the captain - or someone from the 1038th, anyways - had most likely already given her command a more detailed report. Still, oversight authority of all the military and paramilitary forces on Mid-Childa fell to him, not to mention 'direct' command of the CDF - he had to remain appraised of the situation, ensure that all the resources the Defense Division needed were available, that their flanks were secure, and, of course, to coordinate with the evacuation and other emergency services.

The situation in Harpin's Curve may have improved little, but at least it was quiet for the moment.

That, however, was only one of the myriad problems facing them. The invaders in the west were still some distance away - for the moment, at least - but there was no way to be sure how many more of the ACID weapons they had, or if they would use them again - the command center itself was safe now that the barrier was up, but that was little comfort for the rest of the city. Moreover, a large portion of the downtown area was still ablaze - much of the fire had been contained, but beyond the initially affected area, there had been some more incidents - power conduits overloading, vehicle crashes, and the like, putting even more of a load on emergency services. The fires were 'calm' enough that rescue crews could get in reliably now, and they could approximate the number of casualties - roughly eight thousand dead, fifteen thousand more injured, though the exact proportions might be different. The weapon had been similar to an old nuclear fusion bomb, but focused or constrained by some means - a sphere of sub-atomic plasma, powerful enough to burn through hardened modern building materials as easily as its predecessors had burned through timber. Had they used one of the older bombs, the casualties would likely have been much fewer...

It was a small mercy, though, in that if they did launch more, the destruction would be fairly localized, rather than having to deal with moderate damage and exposed casualties throughout the city. Montgomery did not plan to rely on small mercies, however. There were the intercept batteries, first of all, now on full alert, though that was... not entirely dependable. (Something would have to be done about their state of readiness. Despite high levels of spending, his predecessor had seen fit to let them stagnate, instead preferring to concentrate his efforts on pet projects that ranged from ethically questionable to utterly reprehensible. Montgomery himself hadn't considered them a priority, either... but today's events had demonstrated the danger of that stance.)

It was best not to take chances - that was why proactive measures were being taken - those weapons had to launch from somewhere - they'd find it and eliminate that platform, one way or the other. With the ACID threat gone, the enemy could be held at arm's length until they either ran out of supplies or otherwise realized the futility of their position - unless, of course, they had some kind of trick up their sleeve, some way to get secretly obtain materials... Armed Forces Intelligence and the TSAB Covert Inspection Department, and a myriad of other agencies were already hard at work looking for a supplier, an origin, any clue as to who the hell these people might be... but all that was a problem they couldn't afford to worry about now.

There was a bizarre situation developing in Foevir Forest, with the other invaders... or the invader's second force, as it might be - at least, it was presumed to relate to the invaders until known otherwise. It was a series of unexplained seismic anomalies - regular seismic tremors, minute in terms of magnitude, but remarkable in their astonishing regularity, against a background of irregular vibration - disturbingly, however, the whole thing was slowly moving southeast, towards Port Kansen. Numerous possibilities had been drawn up - a tectonic weapon, a random if ill-timed earthquake, a million-strong army marching in unison, but it did not quite match the profile for any of those. The only consensus on what it might be was that whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. Hence, a Recon team had been sent to secretly investigate, and find out what it was. They should be reaching safe communications distance momentarily. The fact they hadn't sent a message earlier… seemed to confirm that the source was indeed some sort of enemy action.

Before long, the scheduled check-in time came… and went. Darius checked their track connection - the main transmission amplifiers and a handful of the hard-line backups were down, but their reserves went much deeper than that. They were still retrieving other transmissions - it wasn't a problem on their side - so the scouts must have been delayed. A minute passed… then two… Montgomery was beginning to worry, when finally, they got something. Darius pulled up some controls.

"We're receiving transmission from Ground Recon 76th Company Squad 16, relaying through Fort Foevir. Patching in and relaying to Special Defense Division… now."

A monitor reading 'GFRec 76th Co. Sq. #16'/AUDIO ONLY' appeared, then collapsed to a thin banner, with three other monitors opening, depicting generals Moncure, Carosella, and Sharot.

"_Command, this is Gridlock 1, some delay in achieving safe distance, we are now standby. We have… we believe we have confirmed the source of the seismic event." _

"Good." Montgomery said. "Any sign of enemy activity?"

"There's a whole damn alien army here, sir. We've got Armour-types, infantry, motorbikes, cannons… just about everything. As for the source of the vibrations, it's a… well, put it on screen."

A monitor opened, showing what seemed to be a river of green-skinned aliens, mixed in with various vehicles, and, off in the distance, what appeared to be a small mountain of metal… until he realized it was moving.

"Lieutenant…" General Carosella asked. "What the hell is that?"

"It's… big." The recon officer replied - a few more monitors appeared, showing a zoomed-in view of the… thing. It was roughly cone shaped, bristling with mass weaponry, including an array of seven huge cannons mounted on one side, with what seemed to be a large mechanical crane or arm on the other.

"Some kind of gigantic humanoid armor-type." Gridlock 1 continued. "I've never seen anything like it before… no idea how it works..."

Ah… yes, on closer examination, it did bear a certain resemblance to a human - or rather, 'Ork' form, with the two arms, of course, a 'head' at top of the squat, conical body, and a pair of huge treads to… no, not treads - looking at the way it was moving, it had to actually be **walking**. A strange, swinging gait, since its legs didn't seem to have much range of movement, but still… it was walking somehow. A walking vehicle of that size shouldn't exist, at least not on any slightly practical level, but this… well it certainly seemed to work, somehow, and if they could keep it operational and had effective barriers, it may be rather dangerous. Even if the giant machine was more intimidating than practically significant, there was a large alien army moving… somewhere.

"Nevermind the… walker." Montgomery asked. "Can you give me an estimate of the overall force's composition and destination?"

"Rough estimate… at least ten thousand infantry, two or three hundred armor-types, including some smaller walkers, and… five hundred other vehicles. Destination, south by southeast… they're either heading to urbanized areas along the inlet, or to Fort Foevir itself. We've already transmitted a detailed description."

"Either way, we're going to have to deal with them." Sharot said. "Continue silent observation. Report in if anything significant develops, and relay their position every 24 hours."

"Understood. We'll evade and tail them as able." The lieutenant replied. His indicator strip flashed, then faded out.

"This is the largest alien force we've encountered yet." General Moncure observed. "Based on the figures here, it seems that ten thousand is a conservative estimate. Accounting for the variable density of their formation, and the size of their group… plus the possibility of the outer layer screening for a larger force… we could be looking at… fifty times that number."

"Half a million?" Montgomery asked. It wasn't an _improbable _number - for a planetary invasion, actually, it was still far, far too low… but it was much more than they'd seen so far.

"It may not be _likely_, but it's possible." General Moncure said. "It'd have to be recklessly dense. More likely, the figure is in the range of eighty to five-hundred percent of ten thousand."

"And it's a hundred kilometers from my position." Sharot said, shaking her head. How the hell are we missing these guys, anyways? Report indicates they're causing significant damage to the forest..."

"Orbital recon is still down." Montgomery explained. "When they shifted into Mid-Childa's orbit, whatever system they used created a tremendous burst of unknown interference. Transmissions with the rest of the Bureau are adequate for military purposes, but searchers - even visual - are suffering from a high degree of static. We need to get in close to have any chance of a clear picture. Look."

Darius pulled up one of their satellite images, this one of what was believed to be the location of the human invaders. You could make out the contours of the terrain amongst the snow and artifacts, but the resolution was at less than a kilometer. The massive Grand Central Highway was invisible, and all the (evacuated) towns along the route were nothing but incoherent blobs of brown and gray.

"This is what Foevir Forest looks like." He continued.

Another image, this one of the forest - at least supposedly. A blizzard of static covered most of the image, with a dark-green mass visible through the gaps, except in the upper-right corner, where it was a blue mass.

"As you can see, it is of precious little intelligence value."

Suddenly, General Carosella spoke up. "There's a pattern here."

Montgomery looked at the image again. The actual terrain was too indistinct to really gather anything, so he looked at the static. Now that he took a look at, it did seem vaguely radial, but other than that, there wasn't much to go on…

"I don't see anything. What do you mean?"

"There's a kind of…" Carosella began "…no… actually, it was there, but now I can't see it."

"Hm." General Moncure said. "It wouldn't be surprising for there to be some pattern to the jamming… something must be being transmitted."

"I'll mention it to the labcoats we've got working on it." Montgomery said. "It might help them deal with it."

"Fair enough…" Sharot said. "We're going to get Ft. Foevir combat ready. They may be heading to secure Harpin's Curve - it's an industrial center, and they could overwatch the river easily… thirty percent of the province's shipping goes through there. But wherever they're going, we'll be able to launch harassing attacks. I'd say 'cut their supply chain', but frankly, I don't see a supply chain."

"It seems _both_ invading forces have decided to carry all their equipment with them." Carosella noted.

"Hence our strategy of isolating and starving them." General Moncure explained. "They cannot last forever."

"That's the strange thing, isn't it." Montgomery said, rubbing his chin. If you were going to do something as difficult as invading Mid-Childa, why would you send only a token force? "There must be more to this invasion than this… they can't possibly expect to conquer a planet with… what, fifty thousand isolated troops? Perhaps one of the outer colonies, but…"

"That's a matter for the council, isn't it..." General Moncure said dismissively. Their own mission was to stop the invasion - determining exactly how or why it occurred was up to others.

"True. They're already well aware. " Montgomery said. "In the meantime, perhaps some reserves should be directed to Fort Foevir. That way, you'll be more able to withstand a direct assault on the base."

"They'd have to take leave of their senses to go up against a fortified position as their first move…" Sharot began. "…but they haven't exactly demonstrated a strategic genius thus far. Still, I think a giant mech head would go well on my mantle, eh?"

"Don't get too confident." General Moncure replied. "They've done considerable damage thus far. I am activating the first reserve brigade and directing it to you."

"We'll definitely be attracting their attention." Sharot noted. "A little extra company couldn't hurt."

"Stay alert. General Laito is correct - there seems to be something more here."

Sharot nodded dismissively. "Right. I'll be cautious."

Sharot's enthusiasm was… a little disconcerting, considering the severity of the situation. This wasn't a vacation, and treating everything too frivolously was dangerous. That was the problem with being a hyperpower - though, honestly, it was a good problem to have.

"I believe that should concludes matters for now." General Laito said. "We'll reconvene when Ft. Foevir makes contact with the enemy or at 1600. This meeting is adjourned. Dismissed."

Unknown Location

Heretic Prison

9-473-004M42

They took him from his room a third time. This time, however, they took him past the small side room, where they had pointlessly babbled in their heathen tongue, and into a lift. The lift took him upwards, and he was dragged through more halls. The halls were too bright, too clean - the spoor of hedonism. 'He that wraps himself in light and gaiety is without resolve, he will falter in the darkness' - thus was written.

Eventually, they came to another room. It was like the other below, yet… different. Larger. Dustier, but more aligned. It was clear it had not been used often. There were two witches already present. A male, who had been present in the smaller room - most likely one of their leaders. He sat with a plate of libations in front of him. A female, unnatural pale green hair, standing in the right corner. Two of the four that had brought him stood outside the room. The other two continued to carry him in, placed him in the chair opposite the male, and secured restraints to him.

He tried to shift out. They hissed and sparked, but held out. They'd even accounted for his self-inflicted injury. 'Whatever should hold you from obedience, let it be cut apart and cast aside'. It was thus ordained.

The male across from him held out a small pastry and said something. He understood neither the words nor the gesture. The witch took the item back, and bit into it. He continued to speak, but these heresies were just so much babble to Commissar Erikk Morden. 'The truly devout, he shall witness all blasphemies and yet know them not."

Morden glared back at his interrogator, not looking into his eyes, but into the bridge of his nose. The eye of a psyker was dangerous.

The male witch did not try to meet his gaze. He nodded to the female, who reached out towards him, grabbing for his head. He twitched aside, sneering at her. She merely stepped closer.

"I do not fear you. The Emperor is with me."

He did not understand her response. She did not seem concerned, and reached out again, and touched his head.

A throbbing pain flooded his skull as the psyker intruded into his thoughts. Morden growled as the dull sensation spread downward, but he would not yield…

_**[SEE WHAT… FIND]**_

He recognized the female witch speaking aloud, through the migraine…

_**[IT WILL BE… YOU… RESIST.]**_

He clenched his jaw… was this the best they could do? By the Emperor, they would suffer for this…

_**[WHAT?]**_

_[You shall not TOUCH my mind, heretic SCUM]_

There was a sensation, incoherent even compared to the witch's profane intrusion, and the she reeled back, screaming. Two of the others rushed to her. The lights flickered off. The shackles weakened, briefly.

Briefly was all he needed. With all the strength he could muster, he burst out of the shackles. The left, he had already escaped on the battlefield. The right… had they truly not expected he would be willing to dislocate his wrist? If so, it would be their undoing. One of them noticed he was unfettered, and ran over. He seized the back of the heretic's skull, and slammed it against the table. Blood flowed from the witch's face, but he still struggled. Morden slammed him against the table again. This time he fell still, and Morden took the shackle key while the others were still focusing on the female - except for the leader across the table. He reached for a small cylindrical jewel at his neck - possibly a totem or vox.

"THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!"

Morden leapt upon the table, and the witch glowed with unclean light. It dimmed, and he stood dressed in armor, and carrying one of their totemic staffs, which he began to lower. Morden rushed forward, and shoulder-barged the witch against the wall. He punched with his remaining hand where the armor seemed weak - once, twice, again. The witch's grip loosened on the staff, and he wrenched it from his grasp. The others had noticed, now. One of the guards left the female, holding out a small prod. They would be dealt with in time. Now, Morden swung the butt of the staff into the lead witch's cheek, stunning him. Then, he reversed the blow, and jabbed into the larynx of his neck, yielding a quiet crack. Satisfied, he leaned the blasphemous weapon against the ground, and stomped on it with as much force as he could muster. Regrettably, it was not as fragile as it appeared - he could not worry about such things for now.

Morden turned to the approaching guard, and shuffled over as best he could muster. The witch lunged, and he parried with his left arm, and countered with an uppercut from the right. The witch stumbled back, nose bloodied - he seemed surprised to see it, but only long enough for Morden to advance after him. He soon recovered, and swung the prod - Morden shifted back, but not quite far enough - it struck his shoulder, stinging with witch-fire, but the Emperor was with him, and it did not still him - thus was written, "Honest faith is the surest proof against the blasphemy of the Warp.". He again counterattacked, striking the witch's temple, then sweeping in to take him off his feet - the shackles only made it easier. Morden slammed his elbow into the witch's jaw as his foot struck ankle, and he fell, attempting to roll away - he would not get the chance. Morden struck out, and seized him around the mouth. Using the remainder of his left arm, he braced against the back of the witch's head and wrenched.

The last witch, another female, was still on the ground, desperately pressing… something. Deliberately, Morden walked over, with her still pressing the button. She drew her own small prod from her waist, holding it out. It would not be of concern.

There was a loud wail, and a red light flashed in the background. Another wail. The alarm - of course. The witch said something… pleading, almost.

"Such is the fate of the heretic." Commissar Morden replied. He didn't know if she understood, nor did he care. He simply wanted her to die scared.

Ignoring the prod, he kicked her in the face - she reeled back, and he stomped down, striking again. This time, she fell to the ground, but he did not relent, stomping on her perhaps five times. The soft booties he had been given did not compare to hob-nailed boots, but it would do. When she was adequately disoriented, he came down astride her, seized her head, and jammed his thumb deep into the witch's eye. Soon, her struggles ceased. Morden scoffed, and wiped off the gore on her black jacket, and unfastened his shackles with the key he'd taken earlier - it made little difference in these close quarters, but outside, he would need to run. The next step was to get out of the room itself before reinforcements arrived. The leader of the witches had inserted a small plate - some kind of cypher-key - to open it. Morden searched him, but he had nothing - apparently, the contents of his uniform pockets were somehow absent from his armor. Perhaps one of the others had the same key - he searched them as well.

It took some time, and as he did so, a series of eldritch lights illuminated around the top of the ceiling. He looked outside - four more witches had already arrived, all in armor, two holding staffs, two with short, thin spears. He redoubled his efforts and soon located another plate, this one in the pocket of the witch who had attempted to violate his mind - she two had been slain, perhaps by the fall, perhaps by the ferocity of his faith alone. The fabric of her skirt tore like fish-paper as he removed the key - and the bodies, though they were devoid of insects, seemed as though they had been immersed in salt for hours. The result of whatever sorcery those eldritch lights were working, perhaps? One of them - the one who had first tried to restrain him - was not affected. Perhaps it meant he was, in fact, still alive?

Morden moved to rectify that, but then thought better of it. There were four more of them outside the door. He had proven blessedly resilient against their witchery thus far, and had thought to sprint past in search of escape - as the ancient proverb stated, 'Discretion is the better part of valor', and to fight this entire fortress without weapons was foolish. But perhaps if he took a hostage, things would be that much the easier - these heathens seemed to ascribe an undue value to every irrelevant peasant. He grabbed the witch about the neck, and dragged him to the door, sliding the key into its slot. It groaned almost angrily, but duly opened.

He pushed his hostage into the corridor, as the others backed off for a moment, before regaining their ground - but they did not fire. One of the witches - another female, they seemed to have no end of them - spoke to her fellows. Immediately, Morden replied. "Your weapons are useless - shoot, and he dies." The heretics backed up slightly, their weapons still trained on him, but widening the net. Another eight witches appeared - two on each side, four behind. He sneered, and continued advancing, forcing the witches back. A bolt of witchfire struck the side of his head.

It was not a hindrance.

Very well.

He hurled the unconscious heretic at the spear-wielder to his right. The witch stumbled back, uncertain.

Morden was certain. These scum, and every other heretic he could reach, would die.

He barreled into the enemy, seizing the spear…

Genevieve Elrose Plaza, Briarnook Township

Central Mid-Childa, Approximately 260 kilometers West of Clanagan

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1044 Hours

The streets of Briarnook were silent. Row upon row of houses and flats stood in perfect order, lawns ranging from immaculate to overgrown. A few cars sat in driveways, as if waiting for their owners to return from work. Swings at the nearby park rocked back and forth in the wind, empty. A small dog curled patiently on a nearby doorstep. No rubble or refuse littered the roads, clusters of papers refused to flutter past. It didn't look like an abandoned city should look… but nevertheless, it was no less desolate, and no less eerie.

Well, the streets were almost silent. A sound like a distant crack of lightning pierced the cold air, and soon a column of smoke rose far away. SRS and the local Police/Rescue had searched every cranny for the lost, brought ambulances for the invalid and dragged away the unwilling. But in the end, as the enemy grew close, they themselves had to abandon the town, still not _entirely _evacuated.

Now, the Krieg scouts had arrived, fanning out and conducting a search of their own. Whether out of fear of ambush or sheer bloodlust, they would scour the town, methodically sweeping block by block, killing all they found - human or animal. For now, though, their motive was irrelevant. The search clearly indicated one thing - the main force was not far behind… and for all their thoroughness, they were a little _too _methodical. They followed a set pattern, and if the Seventh Permanent Striker Section swept in _after _the patrols had passed by, but before they came back around to report to the main force, they'd get in without a problem.

Captain Marcos Venson's orders were simple - the enemy had already deployed some kind of ACID weapon against an unprepared Clanagan. Casualties were enormous, and if they fired it again, they would only rise. His section was here to ensure they would never get another shot. The first step, identifying the weapon, had already been completed. Using an array of limpets and searchers, they'd identified a number of primitive but powerful fusion bombs mounted in large missiles. Getting to them was the trick - the missiles were located in the heart of the enemy column, concealed within the lower levels of the Grand Central Highway. They'd been placing D-cartridges along the highway, using them like mines to harass the enemy advance and hopefully slow them down. It had worked, at first, but apparently the enemy had seen through that. Now, they didn't even stop when one of their charges detonated, just continued implacably on their march towards the capital.

That was the plan, of course. The enemy had grown reckless. Now it was time for the final strike. The simplest solution would be to just drop out the whole highway, bring down the entire tunnel, ACID missiles and all. Unfortunately, even all their remaining charges couldn't bring down something that durable, and even if they'd had enough, it'd have surely been noticed even in the Krieg's haste. They'd have to make a direct assault on the launchers, which naturally were located at the center of the enemy column. Of course, to do that, they'd have to find some way to stop them long enough to attack…

Fortunately, they were Strikers. 'Impossible' was their primary mission, and this… well, this was just another day's work.

Pretense aside, though, it'd require swift action, and some… adjustments. They paused by a Marcy's General at a streetcorner, not far from the highway itself, and just outside the range where their ASLS would reliably conceal them. Here they'd split up - an assault force, with their fast, close-in attackers going to pinpoint and eliminate the launchers, and a blocking force, with their slower and more defensive mages keeping the column from moving or, hopefully, responding effectively.

"Alright… boys and girls. "You know our mission. You know the enemy has already used their ACID weapons on Clanagan itself, and you know they will kill thousands more if given the chance. What I also know, however, is that all of you are Strikers - the Bureau's spear - and no matter the objective put before you, you will not fail. Is that not right, mages?"

"Yes sir!"

"Damn Right." Captain Venson finished. "Alright, then. This is where we split up - you have your squad assignments. Lieutenant Fanton, you and your team are ready?

"Yes sir." Hiyen replied, nodding slightly. "We'll hold the enemy for as long as you need."

"Excellent. When we've destroyed the first of the launchers, I'll transmit the code word 'Quiescence', and we'll all fall back to rally point Grove."

"Understood." Corporal Feidermahn (Colossus 4, on the blocking force) said. Hiyen just nodded.

"That's it. Good hunting."

The group backed away from the circle that had sub-consciously formed. The blocking force saluted sharply. He returned the gesture, and they sped off into the distance. The assault force stayed behind for the moment. They did not have too long to wait.

Suddenly, four reactions blazed into existence, speeding towards the highway. That was their 'signal' - the deactivation of the blocking force's limiters. No one within a hundred kilometers could miss them, and the Krieg forces would be no exception. The assault force would need to make good use of the distraction.

Captain Venson nodded. "Go."

There was a brief surge, like a cave-in of energy, as four stealth limiters shut down. Marcos blinked away the disorientation caused by the sudden shift, and brought his 'Jacket to full power. He set off at a sprint, then leapt into the air, the others falling into formation behind him. The blocking force was almost to the highway - he could actually just make out the glow of their aerodynamic barriers.

A torrent of long, fiery streaks leapt out from the upper roadway, detonating in bright flashes as they chased after the blocking group, who split up, taking wide, erratic paths as they passed over. The counter-aerial fire followed them, but there were only three batteries and four mages - and they were moving too abruptly for it to track.

One of the batteries stopped firing. One could hope it had run out of ammo, but it was equally likely…

"_Incoming projectiles!" _Tsahuro transmitted. Marcos saw them - a stampede of lights, heading straight for him at high speed.

"_Got it, get low"_

Immediately, he countered forward momentum and dived - moments later, the air where he'd just been erupted into a firestorm. They had to get up top, but that didn't mean they couldn't approach from low altitude. Above him, the storm of metal and flame followed after him, quickly gaining - he turned aside, rounding a nearby house. The others had descended to surface level, too, making straight for the highway, but the battery was focused on him. Might as well keep it that way…

"_Colossus 2, see if you can neutralize the rear battery."_

"_On it, sir."_

A shaft of autumn-gold light pierced the air overhead, and the barrage chasing after him abruptly ceased.

"_Knockdown." _Hafner said. "It's burning."

"_This is Titanic 2, we are in position and holding!"_

With the Blocking Force disappearing into the highway, the remaining CAs quickly turned to them and opened fire, honing in on Colossus 2, who briefly climbed, then looped over and zoomed down, under the highway. They might be able to take those out too, but it was not worth the time, now that the blocking force was in place. But the attack itself would be much easier unharassed - if only for a moment.

"_Flare!" _Marcos ordered, flying under the highway. Simultaneously, he initiated his device's Last-Known overlay, and arced around the far side, turning over as he climbed. Off in the distance, there was a bright flash of light, and the trail of projectiles continued in the same general direction Colossus 2 had been going. That'd keep their attention a little while.

The remains of the first blocky gray armor-type smoldered in the center of the highway, a hole a meter wide torn clean through it. According to the overlay, the enemy launcher should be underneath about a hundred meters west of it, further away from the 'front'. The team didn't need any explicit orders, they just converged on top of it, some on the ground, some hovering a meter or so above.

"_This is it."_ Captain Venson transmitted. _"Colossus 1 will breach, then Titanic 4 flares. On three."_

"_One…" _He counted._ "…Two… Three!"_

Lieutenant Hope thrust her glaive forwards, and beam of bright-green light blasted through the pavement. A moment later, Tsahuro tossed another flare into the hole, brightly illuminating the inside. A wave of static blinded their searchers, but they wouldn't need them in such close quarters.

Marcos was the first in. The enemy was all around him - what seemed like dozens of armor types pulling large cannons behind them, and a wall of infantry about fifty meters behind. The launcher was clearly not where it was supposed to be - but based on what was here, it couldn't be too far ahead. The soldiers on foot were probably the biggest immediate danger as well - get clear of them, accomplish their objective, and get out.

"_Get to the launcher, move!" _Marcos transmitted. He drew back his sword, gathering power, and swung in a long circle, slicing into one of the armor types nearby, and unleashed a wave of energy towards the cluster of infantry. A section of the front line flew backwards, crashing into more soldiers behind them. Hopefully, that would slow them a bit. Marcos leapt backwards, spinning in midair and breaking into a sprint. The target couldn't be far. The rest of the team followed. Around them, vehicles veered aside, disoriented - or maybe deliberately moving to block their paths. He dashed up the side of a vehicle hauling a large trailer as it rammed into one of its comrades, and sprinted across the top of the convoy, leaping from one armor-type to another.

"_Titanic 2, we've got heavy incoming. They're just smashing through their own vehicles…"_

He activated Omni-Vision, and his device superimposed an image in front of his eyes, adjusting for the darkness - perhaps a hundred-fifty meters forward a pair of smaller vehicles towed a launch platform of massive size - their target.

"_Found it!" _He shouted, transmitting the location through GE-487, and continued across the convoy. Around him, hatches began to open, and masked soldiers emerged, firing pistols. Two Armored Assault Vehicles flanked the launcher, and, stuttering, began to turn about… Marcos raced ahead - the sooner they got to the launcher, the better. About two armor-types ahead and one to the side, a Krieg appeared out of the hatch, laser in hand. Marcos leapt ahead, and slashed low, ripping through the roof of the vehicle with his zweihander and throwing the soldier back down into his craft. He was less than seventy meters now…

"_Titanic 2, status?" Marcos asked._

"_They're pushing us hard, but we're holding. They're just smashing through their own vehicles… Titanic 3 is injured, but it's not bad…"_

"_Good. Standby, Marcos out."_

A laser snapped into his inner shin, leaving a stinging welt. Dozens of energy beams snaking through the tunnel now seemed to be focused on him - already, his barrier jacket had taken half a dozen hits, and was at around 74%. He turned, flinging a shooting attack from his left hand at the first Krieg he saw. He leapt backwards as another hauler smashed into the one he was standing atop, somersaulted in midair, and pushed off the ceiling towards another enemy standing on top of the convoy, thrusting over a meter of Armed Device through his chest, as they were both carried off into the gap between vehicles.

Marcos quickly stood. The enemy lay on the ground still, blood trickling through their overcoat. That was going to smart in the morning…

'Behind' them, the column of infantry was rushing upwards. Colossus 2 was holding most of them, but a small pack headed down this alley, and now their lead ranks crouched to fire. Marcos cast a pair of shooting bolts towards them - not at them, but into the ground beside them, kicking up a plume of dust and shrapnel. He lifted into the air, turning back towards the launcher. The AAV on its right had given up trying to turn, and now only it's turret turned to face them… though, strangely, it didn't seem to have a co-axial weapon. They couldn't be thinking of…

They were. An ear-splitting boom shot through the tunnel, and it turned bright as day for a split second. The shell streaked down the row and slammed into a hauler, exploding with a tremendous blast that pounded him away, though he recovered before hitting the wall. The hauler was a chunk of twisted, burning metal, secondaries cracking off as whatever was stored in its trailer exploded.

"_What the hell was that?!" _Titanic 4 asked.

"_Tank._" Marcos replied.

"_What the hell are-"_

"_Colossus 1 is down!" _Gyun - shouted. "_Repeat, Colossus 1 is down!"_

"_Understood." _Marcos transmitted, gritting his teeth. _"Titanic 4, take the launcher."_ He turned to the tank, hoisting his sword towards it, white-green energy gathering around the tip. "Alright, madmen…"

"Berserk! Blade! SPEAR!"

The spell carried him forward with incredible speed, straight into the side of the vehicle, just in front of its sponson casement. His sword had struck home, its tip buried about a decimeter into the metal. He planted his feet on its hull, and levered the sword upwards - though it took all of his magically enhanced strength, it slowly tore through the vehicle's plating…

Something smashed into his right side, throwing him away from the tank. His device fell free and clattered to the ground next to the vehicle. There was a screaming pain in the side of his chest, and the gun on the side of the side of the tank was slowly tracking towards him again. His barrier jacket was operational, but would it be intact enough? Telekinesis was tricky even with a device… he could try rushing forward, but perhaps…

Before he could act, Tsahuro darted in front of him, hand outstretched. A barrage of shots pounded against her barrier, as he slowly rose from the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain. His right side was bleeding rather profusely, and his coat was rather badly scored - It seemed that one of the 'small' gun's shells had either shattered or detonated against his 'Jacket, and a bit of metal broke through and cut across the skin. It wasn't deep, at least, and he could move readily.

"_Thanks…" _He transmitted.

"_Got their attention." _She replied. _"Get your device!"_

Now the turret began to turn towards them, the barrel - wider than his head was tall - aiming down towards them. Marcos dashed forwards at a slight angle to the line of fire, slid in under the gun, and snatched up his sword. Power rushed back through his limbs, and he swung upwards, slashing through the port where the autofire gun emerged. The plating was weaker there, and the weapon broke apart, the barrel falling at his feet. The tank's engine roared, and it began to back away - it looked like his initial attack had damaged the track and some of the drive mechanisms. Ironically, they were now more or less safe in its lee.

"I'll take care of the launch platform." Corporal Tsahuro said. "Purity Dome."

A semi-sphere of silvery-blue light erupted around him, and the numbing energy of healing magic flowed into his side. Tsahuro spun, raising her wand into the air and drawing in power.

"_Titanic 2, this is Titanic 1." _Marcos transmitted - might as well take the chance to catch up._ "We are at the launcher, and will destroy it momentarily."_

"_Good… they seem to be easing up… wait, Colossus 3 has something…"_

A laser impacted against his barrier dome. The tank's crew, realizing they couldn't shoot them with the turret, had decided to disembark and attack in person. One was already aiming a carbine at them, another climbing out of the turret. Marcos scoffed, glanced in the direction of his wound - it barely hurt anymore, and declared it healed enough. He raised his sword behind his head…

"Curtain Cleaver!" He shouted, slashing through the air - a wall of force smashing into the two soldiers, tossing them off the tank. The healing dome wavered and faded, but he didn't care - instead, he leapt up upon the turret, and looked down the hatch. A third soldier looked up - beneath the mask, it was almost impossible to discern expression, but Marcos imagined him surprised. He thrust his sword into the hatch, phasing through his shoulder, and sending tumbling back into the confines of the vehicle. Marcos looked back to Tsahuro and the launcher…

"_There's something coming through…" _Hiyen transmitted._ "Oh my god, look at the size of -"_

Cpl. Tsahuro released her spell, and it smashed into the launch frame, piercing straight into it before detonating and breaking it apart at the middle. Captain Marcos nodded in appreciation as he retrieved one of his D-cartridges and dropped it down the hatch.

"Titanic 4, general." She transmitted. "Target down."

"Do you read, Titanic 2? Quiescence. Repeat, Quiescence - all units fall back."

"'Bout time you guys got it done!" Colossus 2 transmitted.

That was when he noticed it. The other tank hadn't tried firing its main gun, but the whole thing was now facing towards her, with a smaller gun on its hull facing right at her.

"Corporal, look out!" He shouted.

She turned, and cast a shield a split second before it fired, a crack of lightning piercing through the darkness and leaving stars in his eyes. He blinked away the afterglare, and when he recovered, Cpl. Tsahuro wasn't there anymore. Instantly, he called up her AVS biomonitor - negative. Then, he saw her body - or what was left of it. The Krieg weapon had burned straight through her shield and barrier jacket, and blasted her apart at the waist. He couldn't even see…

This mission had already gone straight down - and it was all due to his stupidity. Marcos knew he couldn't fix this… but he could make that tank _die._

Screaming, he jetting forward. The side turrets opened fire, but he was too fast for them to have an effect… The laser would be the first thing to take apart. He threw a Curtain Cleaver at the turret, then dove down, slashing wildly. His blade skittered off the thick armor, but not before it sliced through every exposed mechanism he could find, again and again. He cleaved through the laser barrel, and it fell to the ground in three ragged pieces. He smashed his sword against the glacis plating, harder with each swing, scoring half a dozen gashes in the metal… but not deep enough.

"_Titan - Captain! We've got to get out of here!" _Someone transmitted. Not until the tank was dead. He hammered at a joint… still fruitlessly. He had to be using a lot of mana, he thought absently…

The cannon fired again. Without a barrel, it simply sprayed energy outwards in a chaotic cone, melting itself and tossing him away - unfocused, his Barrier Jacket could more or less sustain the impact, though he absently heard the sound of its 50% warning. The tank advanced forward with a growl of metal - were they trying to run over him? They wouldn't. He stood, and, holding his weapon to the side, rushed forward, slamming his hands into its glacis.

Marcos braced his heels against the ground and _pushed_ with all the magically enhanced strength he could muster. The oncoming tank forced him back, gouging deep into the surface of the highway as it went… but gradually, they slowed… then stopped. His whole body felt sore, but he didn't care… Abruptly the tank reversed direction, backing away from him. He followed after it, ripping through the front of its track in one great swing. He slashed across the hull on the backswing, but still caused no damage. It was then he noticed a small window - an emergency viewport, from the looks of it, perhaps he'd destroyed the camera. He could almost see the driver through it. Perfect.

He drew back, and drew in all the power he could…

"BERSERK. BLADE. SPEAR."

The zweihander burst through the window with comparative ease, and impaled the driver straight through the face. Now… there had to be something fragile inside… it wasn't much of a 'curtain', but…

"Curtain Cleaver!" Marcos shouted. The next moment, a wave of heat and force washed over him, and he was flying backwards. He slammed into the far wall, and found himself on the ground. Practically everything seemed to hurt. His barrier jacket was screeching. He pushed himself up, and saw the flaming skeleton of the tank in the distance. There must have been something _really _fragile inside. He couldn't stand - his right leg burned with pain - it might even be broken. His device was nowhere to be seen.

"_Ugh… this is Titanic 1… does anyone read me?"_

There was no response. Hopefully, that meant they were out of range. He blinked again. What seemed like a dozen figures slowly approached, guns held out. No time to heal himself, and they were too many to fight. All he had was the two D-cartridges at his belt - good enough. One of the Krieg soldiers approached, weapon held out before him, another four or so close behind. Marcos rose as much as he could, setting the D-cartridges for thirty seconds, and gestured them closer.

The lead soldier obliged, walking forward and thrusting with his bayonet. With all the energy he could still muster, Marcos shifted aside, forcing the weapon forward. Then seized it near the grip, and wrenched it around, levering the soldier to the ground. It was an old-fashioned rifle with a mechanical trigger - Marcos braced it against his shoulder, and pulled, a flash of light boring through the soldier's mask to splatter an arc of gore around him. He turned, and fired at the four approaching soldiers, two shots, one going high, the second hitting one's arm. Shouting something in their strange language, they raised their own weapons, and white-hot agony ran through his body, sending them back to the ground. His chest felt like it was on fire, and he could only feel pain from his left arm. He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream. Someone walked up, and kicked him in his agonized chest - the only mercy being it could hardly hurt more.

"Fuck…" He groaned. "…You."

In response, the soldier raised a pistol, and pointed it straight at him.

In that moment, he heard a long beep.

A split second later, the tunnel was flooded with fire and light, and then, only the steady grinding of a hundred engines.

City of Novena, Grand Central Highway, EXIT something or other

Central Mid-Childa, Approximately 260 kilometers west of the capital city.

April 28th, Year 76 of the New Calendar: 1109 Hours

About an hour after setting out, the 19th Ground Armoured Company reached the outskirts of Novena. Lieutenant Jerald Irwin had never seen the GCH so crowded - the eight lanes to their right were packed with vehicles, slowly creeping along as another stream merged in from the onramp - but it had been packed for at least fifty kilometers out, one car after another, moving with 'deliberate' speed. He supposed that was what tended to happen when you were trying to evacuate a good quarter of Central Mid-Childa. Even the military vehicles streaming in the opposite direction were moving slowly.

"Our turn is coming up in a minute." Major Peersin transmitted over the radio. "You'll be glad to know we arrived early enough to get the decent quarters."

"Well that's good to hear." Marilyn commented from somewhere up above. "But why are we going into this mess in the first place?"

"I'm sure you can see why the invasion of Mid-Childa was considered more important than an Orussian border conflict. Marilyn."

"Yeah, duh… but why here, in the middle of this maze?"

Looking around, Irwin had to agree that it wasn't ideal ground. The city itself wasn't as sprawling as the likes of Clanagan, or even Ardenvoir, which they'd passed along the way… but it was dense. The place was pretty popular, that was for sure - he'd seen advertisments for everything from musea to festivals to dance clubs, and apparently there was a spa down south…

In any event, they weren't here for entertainment. Novena had practically no exurbs, which were at least semi-navigable, and just far enough from the capital not to catch any of its sprawl. The shortest buildings they passed by were three stories tall, and up ahead, he saw the looming skyscrapers of the city center. One of them, a thin, vaguely sword-shaped arcology marked with a star rising over a standing stone, rivaled those of Clanagan, probably over a good kilometer and a half tall. Inside the city, they'd be restricted, have to maneuver and fire down the streets at all times.

They weren't turning off quite yet - their hangar was around the middle of the city.

"It is kind of… bad." He said. "We'll have to hope we don't get stuck inside there. Look at the rest of the terrain."

Outside the city, it was a mercifully different story. After all, Novena had practically no exurbs - not far outside the city limits was open ground, with gently rolling grassy hills, interrupted only by the occasional rocky outcropping or copse of thin trees. Maybe not perfect, but still pretty damn good. The hills were the only real obstacles to sight, and they still left wide avenues open.

"Suppose." Marilyn said, suddenly shifting into cheeriness. "So as long as _everything_ goes right, we're just fine."

"Yeah, no doubt…" Irwin said. "Just fine."

Who was he kidding, of course they'd get stuck in there. The Ground Forces did something like 80% of their training for urban combat, odds are that's where the main force would be - for much the same reason _they _didn't want to fight in the city. From what little he'd heard, the enemy were particularly slow, Ground Forces infantry could outmaneuver them in the city. Though, any sort of details would have to wait until they stopped off.

The convoy slowed as the forward tanks turned onto an off-ramp. Looks like they'd reached their exit, though with a few dozen transport trucks also turning off at the same time, it was slow going as the vehicles wove into each other. Soon they reached a huge culdesac, built around what seemed to be some kind of large park, with an obelisk of black stone standing in the center, a golden 'IX' embossed into each of its sides, ancient writing carved below that. Off to one side of the park, halfway into where a flowerbed had been, one Instant Fortress - one of the big, multi-story models - already stood, and on the other, a group of engineers were working on unloading another casing from a truck.

"So I suppose that's the Ninth Marker?"

"Must be. I expected it to be closer to downtown, though… but I guess it makes sense to be along the path of the highway."

"This _was_ the city center prior to the 3rd century." Gil said. "Then the old railroad was built to the north, and the center shifted."

"Huh. Is that what you've been reading about?"

"No, not precisely."

"What then? 'How to be boring' by Stick-in-the-mud Nofunnington?"

"That's… not it either."

"Then what is it?"

"It's not really any of your concern, for one." Gilbert said. "But it's 'The Stars As One: The Hidden History of Inter-Dimensional Communications."

"Sounds… fascinating." Marilyn scoffed.

"It is. Did you know that some historians mark the decryption of the state relay stations as the most significant event in half a millennium"

"Not the Last War?" Irwin asked.

"If it hadn't been for free traffic between the Great Powers, the Last War might never have ended… or so the argument goes."

"Fff. I don't get how you guys are so calm about this." Marilyn said. "Like you're going to a history convention instead of a battle."

"There's not much sense in fretting." Gilbert said.

"…Belkan."

"Only by marriage."

The column slowed to a crawl as an auto-drive override came in. Irwin flicked his external display to full screen - parked nearby were pair of PL-514s filled with Aerial Forces officers, judging by a quick glance at their paint scheme. Beyond that, a squad of mages stood guard at a deployable barricade across a roadway. At the next roadway, another row of barricades, and the one after that…

A few streets down, though, they came to a large gatehouse, an Instant Fortress on either side, all built into a wall easily three meters tall. The gate was already open, the CDF guards standing to the side, in awe as their armoured column turned onto another road, this one heading north. From this perspective, Irwin could see the wall ran straight through the parking lot and fields of a nearby school - confirming his suspicions it hadn't been there yesterday.

They sped up as the rear of the formation made its way through the turn, up into the central portion of the city. Inside the walls, Novena was quickly transforming into a fortified camp. Engineers were busily setting up defenses inside - Almost every intersection was walled off with waist-high barricades, searcher antennae sprouting out from them, with a bunker-type Instant Fortress standing in a clearing every few blocks. The streets became more populated as they moved further north, with mages and support staff milling about, some working to prepare for the coming battle, but many simply waiting. Nevertheless, the city was as still as the abandoned slums of Clanagan - if maybe a bit less run down. Every so often, a building would have every window up to the fifth story boarded up and covered in silver plastic tarp - a probably futile effort to minimize damage to the city, at least where the mages were camped out. The structures themselves were mostly modern construction, nano-assembled metal and ceramic. Durable against everything from fire to earthquakes, but still not exactly fortified. Their bombardment beams would go straight through most of them, the enemy's weapons would likely be equally devastating. The only exception might be the superstructure of the largest buildings - maybe. If this battle lasted very long, there might not be much of a city left.

"Looks like they're setting up something big over there…" Marilyn said.

Irwin called up her active view, and saw a massive shopping center to the right, with a staggering array of vehicles waiting in the lots and yards around it - troop transports, cargo trailers, various support vehicles, and nearly a dozen DN-381s. Several clusters of transmission relays and other mechanisms dotted the roof of the mall, along with barrier amplifiers.

"Seems to be an HQ. Look at all the command crawlers."

"I'll say. You ever see so many mages in one place?"

"A mobilization like this, you mean?" Irwin replied. "Yes, but not often. Never in the middle of a Mid-Childan city, that's for certain."

"Even the JS incident wasn't this big." Marilyn said.

"JS incident only lasted a few hours. Gilbert said. "Not much time to respond."

"No kidding. It took them long enough this time."

"Still only a little longer."

"Really though, you'd think High Command would get their act together. This shit shouldn't happen twice in one year."

"This… shit… hadn't happened since the Harfinwelt Conflict - that was nearly five hundred years ago. You'd have to go back to the occupation to get something as severe."

What about the, uh…" Marilyn said "…Siege of Clanagan."

"Not an invasion."

"Still…"

"They fortified the defense grid because of that." Gilbert said. "They didn't think anyone would actually land troops. They didn't think anyone _could._"

"And with the Supreme Commander of the CDF dead, and everyone and a half busy reorganizing…" Irwin noted. After the JS incident, it had been a mad scramble to strengthen defenses and counter-terrorism operations everywhere… but whatever improvements might result hadn't arrived yet. Just chaos. Their company was still waiting for the Variable upgrades they were supposed to have recieved the week after.

"Yeah…" Marilyn said. "So who do you think these guys are, anyways?

"If anyone knew that…" Irwin replied. "…they'd be a damn hero."

"Just a guess, though. Could they be Orussians?" Marilyn asked.

"No." Gilbert said curtly.

"Maybe mercenaries…" Marilyn added.

"The Orussians don't have this kind of technology." Irwin said. On top of that, the style was all wrong, and they weren't foolish enough to try something like this anyways. "And they have to know they aren't going to do themselves any good - hell, what kind of mercenaries would be so stupid."

"Whoever they are, when this is over, they will wish they'd never seen the light of day." Gilbert said by way of elaboration.

"Aye to that." Marilyn replied.

"No…" Irwin continued. Now they'd gotten him thinking about it… there were a handful of powers in known space that could do possibly do this. None of them would gain any advantage from it. "I don't think these people are anyone we're familiar with. There's a lot of space out there. It's not like we've explored all of it."

"So first thing they do on meeting a new civilization is invade their capital?" Marilyn asked. "What kind of logic is that?"

"They seem logical to you?" Irwin replied.

"How would they even know where to go?" Marilyn asked.

"Maybe they've been hiding out on the borders for a while. Watching." Irwin said. "That's what Walden did in the Iron Incursion."

"Does it matter?" Gilbert said. "Leave the mysteries to the Inspectors."

"Just making conversation 'til the bad guys show up." Marilyn protested.

"We're almost out of downtown anyways." Irwin said, tapping on the nav monitor.

The city center rather suddenly transitioned into a massive, a tangle of inactive linear rail tracks leading in every direction, over, below and through the road they were on, and a plethora of cargo carriages sat in rows, abandoned. Some of them looked like they'd been there since long before the invasion. Ahead, a large, vaguely delta-shaped structure stood at the crux of half a dozen tracks, surrounded by a maze of barricades attended by several sections worth of mages - the Novena Central Terminal, according to Gilbert. The northern battlegroup would be based around here. Their destination, however, was a bit further on - things gradually began to thin out, as they passed first stacks of storage containers in the open, giving way to vast empty fields, short grass peeking out through the long-deserted remains of cargo yards.

About ten minutes since they turned off the GCH, they arrived at their destination - Novena Aerospace Center. Several dozen PL-541s sat in the parking lot, marked in the blue-trimmed white of the Aerial Forces. Their column bypassed the terminal building and headed for the service areas, lining up on the taxiways in back. Dozens of commercial planes and other aircraft stood in roughly arranged rows outside, and tugs were dragging more out of the hangars further down the runway.

"_Alright."_ Major Peersin's voice came on transmission. _"Everybody, welcome to Fort Thieftaker, Interim North Post. The good news is, we've beaten most of the other units here, so we can stay in that nice hotel, instead of portable cabins. The bad news is, the 98th Aerial Battalion-" _he made 'Aerial' sound very much like a slur_ "has already put themselves up there. While I'd understand if some of you preferred the cabins under such circumstances, regulations forbid it…"_

"_Unfortunately, before anyone can get settled down, we've got to get the vehicles in the hangar. Sergeant So'Konen will take Administrative Squad 3-1 and get the rooms sorted out, so no worries about getting ninja'd by another unit. As for the rest of you, we're going to have three watch shifts. We're going with the usual schedule, so 1 and 3 are up first for quick response, 5 and 6 for close security. We're at alert condition 3, so response can get out of your vehicles if you like, but stay warm and don't wander off. The rest of you, dismount._

_Close Security detail will establish a perimeter around the hangar facility *and* the airport itself. Section 8 will set up the searchers and posts that you need. Until then, just cordon off the hangar area while we get set up._

_We're gonna need all the stuff that's in those hangars out, and then our gear inside. Once that's done, we drive the tanks in one at a time, and then, and _only _when that's done, the off-duty units can head to their rooms. I'll also need all Section Commanders in a briefing at 1130. Understood?"_

A series of acknowledgments echoed back.

"_That will be all. Carry on."_


End file.
